History#
As a child, Kazuho Haneyama one day asked her mother who the people on TV were, to which her mother replied that they were celebrities who were either Heroes or performers. Newly inspired to one day appear on TV herself, Kazuho wondered aloud which profession would be easier, and her mother replied that she didn't know but that Kazuho should go down the path she likes the best, either a Hero who saves people when they're in trouble, or a performer who sings and dances to make people happy. Kazuho smiled and said that she wanted to be a performer.[1]
Later, Kazuho began acting as an idol at a young age, performing shows on the streets of Naruhata, and in time she would become popular with the locals.[2]
Sometime after, on a rainy day, Kazuho tried to Leap across a river but slipped on the soaked ground and fell into the water. On his way to take his hero-course entrance exam, a young Koichi Haimawari saw her (though he had believed her to be a boy), jumped into the river and pulled her out of the water, giving her his silver age All Might hoodie to help dry off before rushing off.
At that time she did not know his name but she was intrigued by him from that day forward, until several years later when she finds Koichi again. Kazuho always wanted to give him back his hoodie and thank him properly, although she still doesn't have enough courage to do it.[3]
Synopsis#
Vigilantes Beginnings Arc#
Several years later, Kazuho re-encounters Koichi while performing her street performances as "Pop☆Step". Koichi notes that Pop☆Step is taking a big risk in being a freelance idol since she does not have a permit. A police vehicle is passing by, so Koichi warns Pop☆Step, who decides to end her live performance and flies away.
Later that night, while Koichi was returning home after an incident at work, he meets Kazuho again in an alley. She thanks him for helping her that morning but she makes fun of him for being weak and wearing an All Might hoodie, which causes the both to start arguing. Pop☆Step begins to leave but bumps into Soga Kugisaki and his friends, Rapt and Moyuru. The thugs recognize her as the online idol, begin mocking her and even think about sexually assaulting her.
Scared, at first Koichi thinks about leaving her to her fate, but seeing her scared face he decides to help her without hesitation. He does not have much success at first, and all he gets is to anger Soga even more, but with the sudden appearance of Knuckleduster, he both defeats the thugs and saves Kazuho. After this incident, Knuckleduster decides to adopt Koichi as a pupil despite his refusal.[4]
The next day, Kazuho meets Koichi and Knuckleduster again, the latter causing trouble on the streets and attacking people for no apparent reason. Koichi explains to Kazuho the situation, KD's mission is to dismantle the illegal traffic of a drug known as Trigger, which boosts an individual's Quirk and turns him into a violent villain. The only way to identify drug users is through the tongue, which turns black from the trigger. The problem is that Knuckleduster is not very subtle in his methods to extract information and Koichi is only there to prevent Knuckleduster from punching anyone he considers suspicious.
Pop thinks that they should use their heads instead of violence, and suggests that they should search on the internet for "sudden villain appearances" which will allow them to pinpoint the location of the Trigger Junkies making it easier and more productive to find potential Trigger users.
In that moment Knuckleduster spots Mario Kugutsu, a salesman who looks suspicious to him, and tries to interrogate him by force. Koichi and Kazuho try to stop him to avoid more problems, but at that moment Shota Aizawa appears, and stop Knuckleduster under the suspicion of being a villain,[5] which causes a fight between the two, much to Koichi and Kazuho's horror.
The salesman leaves in a hurry, but after seeing some images on the internet related to recent villain incidents, Kazuho realizes that Mario is really a suspicious person, so she and Koichi chase him. Unfortunately, they meet again with Soga, Rapt, and Moyuru. Mario had supplied them with Trigger, so transformed into Instant Villains, they attack Koichi and Kazuho.
As Koichi escapes from Soga and Moyuru, being saved by Knuckleduster and Shota, Kazuho is chasing after Mario while Rapt is right on her tail. Mario finally decides to inject Trigger himself, transforming into a giant four-armed being, catching Kazuho and Rapt and playing with them as if he were a child. Fortunately, Koichi manages to rescue her and Knuckleduster and Shota defeat Mario, who is arrested by the police along with Soga and his friends.
Kazuho personally thanks Koichi for risking his life to save her. KD also praises the courage of Kocihi, who finally accepts his offer to be his student, and the three decide to form a team of vigilantes dedicated to protect Naruhata.[6]
Soon the trio begins to patrol the streets. In their first of them, Kazuho sees two middle schoolers (Ichimoku Samazu and Jube Namimaru) fighting, and aks her teammates to intervene and stop the fight, but Koichi fails since neither Ichimoku and Jube takes his new "The Crawler" persona too seriously, and Knuckleduster has to be stopped since he prefers to use violence. Annoyed that it is taking too long for them to stop the fight, Pop☆Step arrives and uses her appeal to stop the middle schoolers' fight, which works since both Ichimoku and Jube are fans of her.
As Kazuho is about to give them her autograph, an Instant Villain called Akira Iwako starts attacking innocent civilians with his Trigger-enhanced abilities. Koichi and Knuckleduster manage to defeat Akira, and Kazuho informs the middle schoolers about the Trigger drug. When they hear police sirens, Koichi and Knuckleduster scram and Kazuho leaps away and tells Ichimoku and Jube that she will see them next time.[7]
A few days later, both Kazuho and Knuckleduster, dressed in civilian clothes, appear at Koichi's penthouse, which since then will be used as the "headquarter" of the team. After putting on her Pop☆Step outfit at Koichi's home, Kazuho heads to gives her street performance to her fans.
One of them, Teruo Unagisawa, is desperate to get closer to Pop☆Step, but other fans shoves him all the way back, so he injects Trigger into his neck, causing him to transform into a Eel-like Instant Villain, and begins to chase Kazuho through the alleys of Naruhata. Fortunately, Koichi and Knuckleduster help her, setting a trap for Teruo, who is defeated and arrested soon after by the police.[8]
The following day, after being interrogated by the police, Teruo is released without charge as he only caused minor damages. Jube and Ichimoku see Teruo and send a message to Kazuho, who is at Koichi's house. Kazuho tells Koichi that they can meet up with them and talk with Teruo in order to get some information about the person who gave him Trigger.
On their way, they encounter a fan who recognizes Kazuho and takes a picture with her. Koichi and Kazuho meet up with Ichimoku who tells them that Jube is with Teruo, and they will arrive soon. Unfortunately, Knuckleduster is there as well, and both Kazuho and Koichi fear that he will use violence to interrogate Teruo.
Meanwhile, the fan that took a picture with Kazuho is actually a villain known as Kuin Hachisuka. She works for the villain organization responsible of the trigger drug trafficking, and she is responsible for many of the Trigger related incidents in Naruhata.
Kuin uses her Queen Bee Quirk to release a swarm of bees filled with Trigger, and injects the drug into a large number of innocent civilians, transforming them into Instant Villains. This causes many heroes to intervene and suppress the villain outbreak. During the chaos and confusion, Teruo separates from Jube, meeting Kuin shortly after, who convinces him to accompany her. Jube later meets Kazuho and the others, apologizing for losing track of Teruo.[9] After this, Kazuho continues to help his teammates in the fight against trigger traffic.
One day, she arrives at Koichi's penthouse while Koichi himself is busy fixing his All Might hoodie. After grabbing a pudding, Kazuho wonders why Koichi does not replace it with something new. Koichi refuses to since it is official All Might merch. Koichi tells Kazuho that he was planning eating the pudding, which makes her blush and causes her to blame him for not labelling the pudding.
Koichi doesn't mind and says that he will buy more, also tells Kazuho that she is not one of those who asks for apologize easily. Kazuho is annoyed by that remark, and replies he spends a lot of time on his lame All Might hoodie. Koichi snaps at her because he refuses to allow anyone to insult his collection, showing he has every limited edition except for the silver age one.
When Kazuho asks him what happened to it, Koichi replies that five years ago, while on his way to a hero-course entrance exam, he gave it to a boy whom he rescued from a river. However that incident made him late for his exam, losing his chance to become a pro hero. Koichi hopes that the child he saved grows up to be a Hero who was inspired by being saved by his heroics, and hopes that his ideals reach him through the hoodie he gave him. Unimpressed at Koichi for messing up his Hero career so that he could rescue some nameless child, Kazuho goes home in a bad mood.
At home, Kazuho takes out the limited edition silver age All Might hoodie, revealing that she was the "boy" Koichi saved on the day of his examination, causing her to blush. She always wanted to give it back to him but she never dared. Determined to overcome her fears, Kazuho decides to return the penthouse and give the hoodie to him back and thank him as well as apologize for causing him to miss the exam. On the way, she also buys pudding for both of them.
Kazuho returns to the penthouse, but Knuckleduster's presence ruins her opportunity to tell Koichi the true. Kazuo and Knuckleduster eats the pudding while Koichi asks Kazuho what she wanted to talk about. Annoyed at the inconvenience, she once again goes back home. In her home, Kazuho puts on the limited edition silver age All Might hoodie, still thinking it is stupid that courage overflows from the hoodie according to Koichi's belief. Although she thinks it is dumb, deep down she believes there to be some truth in his belief.[3]
Stendhal Arc#
Days later, the Crawler and Pop☆Step go out to perform a patrol without Knuckleduster. They are surprised to see meet Akira Iwako, who is attacking innocent civilians again in his Instant Villain form. While Koichi lure the villain away to a less populated area, Kazuho phones Knuckleduster to ask him if Koichi can pull the situation off on his own. He replies that Koichi doesn't stand a chance, and the best thing they can do is just buy some time and call for help.
During the fight, Koichi loses his balance and he is about to be punched by Akira. Fortunately for him, he is saved by a masked vigilante called Stendhal, who attacks Akira with his weapons, forcing him to escape. Koichi thanks Stendhal before he leaves. This meeting made a great impression on Koichi.
When Kazuho and Koichi return to the penthouse, they tell to Knuckleduster about what happened. Koichi stars gushing over the masked vigilante but Knuckleduster warns him that guys like Stendhal. Kazuho receives a message from Ichimoku Samazu and Jube Namimaru, who say that Ichimoku's strong friend from his hometown is coming to visit and wants to meet Koichi and his fellow vigilantes at Ichimoku's family restaurant. Kazuho decides that they will meet with Ichimoku's "senpai".
At Ichimoku's family restaurant, Koichi and Kazuho are surprised that Ichimoku's "senpai" is none other than Soga Kugisaki. Soga is disheartened by their reactions and questions why they think poorly of him, to which Kazuho replies that he assaulted her and tried to murder them. Soga is annoyed and leave before they can talk.[10]
What they did not know was that Stendhal had formed an alliance with villain Kuin Hachisuka to murder former Trigger consumers, with Soga and his friends being targeted. During a patrol, Koichi finds Stendhal attacking Soga and seriously injuring him. Koichi tries to help but is also injured.[11] Fortunately Knuckleduster appears and defeats Stendhal, forcing him to retreat.
Kazuho Haneyama arrives with a first aid kit and begins applying bandages to Koichi and Knuckleduster. Knuckleduster asks Kazuho to tend to Soga's injuries, which she begrudgingly does despite her animosity towards him. Koichi is glad to have made it out of this incident alive. Soga is annoyed by Koichi's optimism and questions Kazuho about it, to which a blushing Kazuho replies that he is nothing but a happy-go-lucky idiot. Soga seems to understand the way of being of both Kazuho and Koichi.[12]
Senpai Arc#
After their confrontation with Stendhal, the Naruhata Vigilantes continue with their routines. Kazuho is at Kocihi's penthouse killing time when he hears him arrive with a girl. Kazuho hides while Koichi unlocks his door and asks the girl to wait outside while he tidies up the place, throwing all the junk right where Kazuho is hiding, and then allows his companion to enter.
The girl's name is Makoto and she is his senior at the college where he studies. Makoto had offered to help Koichi with his studies, and in return she asks him to help her with her field survey investigation about the rumored "Naruhata Vigilantes" for her thesis about vigilantism.
Despite the fact that he is precisely a member of the so called Naruhata Vigilantes, Koichi agrees to help her. When Makoto leaves, Kazuho appears and is not in the best of moods due to what had just happened. She is annoyed with Makoto's interference, appearing out of nowhere as if she owned the place. However, Koichi does not take Kazuho's rants to heart as he is doing his college work.[13]
A few days later, Koichi trains with Knuckleduster and shows him his new Ultimate Move: High-Speed Double Sweep. The older man commends him for knowing how to better utilize his Quirk's capabilities, but Kazuho finds it weird and annoying, causing Knuckleduster to reply that annoyance is also a useful tactic, but Kazuho simply turns away. Knuckleduster wonders about Kazuho's bad mood, which prompts Koichi to tell him about his situation with Makoto.
After hearing what's going on, Knuckleduster advises Koichi to be careful during Makoto's investigation to prevent their secret identities from being revealed. He trusts the college student to handle things this time but tells him to not mix his professional and personal life. The bad tempered Kazuho hurriedly agrees with both of the older Vigilante's comments and turns away again.
The next day, disguised as Pop☆Step, Kazuho spies on Koichi and Makoto while they carry out the survey about them. During the investigation, a snatcher called Emperor Yotsuura steal Makoto's laptop. Koichi heads to an alley where he puts on his Crawler outfit. Pop☆Step appears and and advises him not to intervene, arguing that it would be better for them if the if the robbery succeeded so that Makoto would stop pestering them. However, Koichi cannot let this crime unfold any further and goes after Yotsuura.
Once the thief is apprehended and arrested, Koichi returns the laptop to Mokoto, who thanks him for his help and hopes to meet the Naruhata Rangers next time. Pop, still watching from afar, cringes at the prospect of a "next time". At night Koichi and Kazuho are looking through copies of Makoto's data and sniping at each other for their perceptions.[14]
A few days later, while she and Koichi chase a thief on a motorcycle, Koichi is saved from being hit by truck by a new hero who has just arrived to Naruhata, Captain Celebrity, a the top-ranked American Hero. Later Knuckleduster tells them that Captain Celebrity is known for multiple lawsuits filed against him and been subject to multiple scandals due his infidelity. Koichi can't stand him due to his arrogant and pompous attitude, especially after an incident with a monstrous villain in which Captain Celebrity doesn't participate until the television cameras and his personal staff arrive. The american hero defeats the villain very easily even though he is very reckless, putting Koichi in danger.[15]
Captain Celebrity poses at the cameras and brings in his personal cheerleader squad to cheer at him. As Captain Celebrity and his cheerleader squad show off, Kazuho sees that Koichi is annoyed at Captain Celebrity hogging all of the spotlight and Koichi admits that he is jealous of Captain Celebrity. Suddenly, they spot Makoto who is one of the cheerleaders. Pop☆Step finds Makoto to be vulgar for jumping around in her cheerleading mini skirt, but Koichi begs to differ while referring to Kazuho's own revealing apparel which she refutes. Being a renowned Casanova, Captain Celebrity invites Makoto out on a date, she accepts and she ends up revealing that she is in contact with his wife Pamela, which Captain Celebrity fears because of her lawsuits against him. In this way, Makoto becomes her manager, ready to improve his public image.[16]
Days passes and one morning, when Koichi receives a call from his father, Kazuho is surprised to see him all hysterical and to clean and tidy up his residence as quickly as possible. Koichi replies that his strict mother, Shoko Haimawari, is coming to visit him. He remembers his updates to her, including one that states he has a girlfriend. In fear for being scolded for lying, he wonders what he should do. Blushing at the idea that he might ask her to pretend to be his girlfriend, Kazuho decides to leave to disregard the matter.[17]
Despite this, Kazuho later decides to help Koichi with his mother, and wears a dress, although Koichi had already asked Makoto for help in that regard, although his mother quickly discovers the lie, she befriends Makoto right away. When Kazuho sees Makoto is there, she starts to leave but Koichi stop her and offered her to stay for play up his popularity with his mother. Although Kazuho does not like that mess, she agrees and uses her actual name to introduce herself to Shoko and Makoto. Koichi is glad to know Pop's real name.
Then Koichi and Kazuho panic when Knuckleduster shows up, terrified of the reaction he may cause in Shoko and Makoto when they see the violent vigilante, but to their surprise, on that occasion Knuckleduter is seen as more genuine than his previous self, politely introduces himself to the guests and presenting a perfect façade of a worker for a local non-profit organization in charge of protecting and support the streets of Naruhata, assuring Shoko that her son help them a lot. Both Koichi and Kazuho realize that, metaphorically, he is telling the truth, but he's omitting a lot of details about how he's doing these things.
Makoto notices Knuckleduster's strong built body and ask him he is a former hero, causing the mother mentions that she doesn't like heroes, and her son's desire to be one has only caused problems. Kazuho tries to stand up for Koichi, but her nervousness causes her to run away while Makoto states to compliment her.
The mother starts to worry about her and order her son to chase Kazuho down. Koichi finds her down the stairs and tries complimenting by saying her dress looks very casual. This comment does not seem to please Kazuho, who slaps him before leaving for her home. Koichi returns to his penthouse and his mother decides to go sightseeing in Tokyo with Makoto next day.[18]
Koichi spends the next morning with Makoto and his mother touring Tokyo, but when they get on the bus that will take them back, Kuin Hachisuka causes another havoc by injecting Trigger to a cat with quirk, taking control of the vehicle and goes out of control. Knuckleduster notices the ruckus, and when he sees Koichi and his guests in danger, he calls Kazuho Haneyama for assistance. Kazuho arrives immediately at the place, bringing with him the feather duster and the duct tape that Knuckleduster had asked for.
With these items, he creates a cat toy and uses it to divert the vehicle onto a road long enough so Koichi, with the help of Ingenium and his team,can rescue all the passengers before the bus reaches the dead end.[19] The last to leave are Koichi with Makoto in his arms, just as the bus begins to fall off a bridge under construction. By sheer force of will, Koichi pushes his Quirk to the limit, allowing him to double-jump in midair, saving both.
Later at Koichi's penthouse, Shoko says goodbye to her son, reassured that he is at good hands, and she asks Knuckleduter and Kazuho not to hesitate to punish him if he steps out of line. Sometime later, Kazuho starts to measure how high Koichi can float, in which he's able to do 30cm. Kazuho informs him with practice, he could possibly do 50, in which he could float over curbs. Koichi states he used the power before as a double-jump; and despite Kazuho thinking it was all in his imagination, Koichi states he did it in which it seems he cannot replicate again.[20]
Vs. Queen Bee Arc#
A few days later, Kazuho receives an email request from her blog that asks her to join a live event on the roof of the Marukane Department Store. She fears that since people view her as a singing street performer and if she screws up they would desert her, yet this is a chance that does not appear often. To help her, Koichi brings Makoto to help with the situation at hand. Kazuho gets mad at Koichi for her knowing her secret identity, to which he replied Makoto has sharp intuition, and that she already knows that he is the Crawler due to the bus incident. Makoto promises to Kazuho that she would not mention her masked escapade to anyone.[21]
Kazuho ends up being part of Feather Hats, a musical group composed by her; Feathers, an underground idol duo of twins named Miu and Yu, the band Mad Hatters and the East Naruhata High Dance Squad; and thanks to Makoto's business skills and contacts, She gets sponsors for Narufest. During the following days, while the Feathers work in intense training sessions with the ENH Dance Squads, Kazuho practices singing the song at Koichi's home.
Miu sprained her ankle during her workout, so Makoto and the others try to figure out where to position her so she doesn't have to move too much. Makoto proposes putting Kazuho in the middle with the Feathers on either side of her, or cutting out Miu completely and having Kazuho and Yu perform as a duo. Miu gets sad that after all of her hard work, she won't be able to perform. Kazuho suggests putting Miu in the middle, having Yu move back and forth to either side of her, and jumping around herself behind them both.[22]
The night of the premiere, in the greenroom, Kazuho Haneyama begins to feel nervous about going out on stage. However, a nearby battle in the streets between the hero Eraser Head and Teruo Unagisawa, transformed into a Next-Level villain causes a blackout.[23] Everyone is worry that the show is called off, and Pop☆Step notices that Koichi Haimawari has gone off somewhere. Koichi emerges from the crowd as The Crawler. He gives Pop her microphone. Pop agrees with the plan for her to go on stage and keep the audience calm.[24]
Pop☆Step explains to the crowd why the power went out, and that the staff are working hard to restore it. She then introduces herself to the audience. Pop instructs those with glow-sticks and assorted light-up goods to line up at the edge of the crowd, and for the rest of the audience to move a bit towards the stage to make a path. She tells the gathering of people that they have time to go to the bathroom before the main event, and that in the mean time she will perform a few songs. Miu & Yu note that she did some slick work on the stage. They also mention that she was as lame as ever, but kind of cute.[25]
When the power is restored. Pop☆Step tells the crowd that the show will begin. The Feather Hats perform their remix of the Marukane Department Store Jingle, and they are greeted with great applause and cheering from the crowd, that's goes wild after the Feather Hats finish their performance.[26]
Thanks to the show, Kazuho's popularity as Pop Step grows a lot, still she continues working as a vigilante. Nahurata's vigilantes continue to protect the streets from villains, although during those days most of them are simply thugs or perverts.During the days after the festival, Knuckleduster is increasingly absent, until finally he leaves without saying anything to anyone,[27] leaving his mask and brass knuckles at Koichi's penthouse. Kazuho wonders why Knuckleduster would leave them there since they just parted in town.
The next day, Kazuho brings Koichi a giant corkboard to hang up inside to the Penthouse. She tells Koichi that it's to put up her recent concert pics and fan letters. The student likes it, and then begins adding his own things like a small sack containing Knuckleduster's gear and the trash and recycling schedule.[28]
Osaka Incident Arc#
Due to the success of the first Narufest, the Marukane board decides that a new festival would be held on the first Saturday of every month from then on. Kazuho spreads the word on the streets, even while she's acting as a Vigilante and Koichi is being attacked by a giant Mantis villain. Annoyed, the boy asks her to stop advertising and call a hero. She replies that she's already called Captain Celebrity and the hero swoops in to defeat the villain.
At the penthouse, Celebrity expresses his annoyance to Koichi that he always has to come to his rescue when he faces a villain he can’t handle, giving him even more work in his already busy schedule. Kazuho asks Captain Celebrity if he could show up for the next installment of Narufest, but he says he's too busy and it being unpaid work. Kazuho says no one at FeatherHATS is getting paid for their contributions either. Celebrity replies that in their case they do that stuff for fun, while he has to job. The hero is planning to stay at the Penthouse for a while to get some rest, but Makoto soon appears and takes him to film a commercial with Ingenium.
After they leaves, Kazuho tells Koichi that he’s right, so they probably should stay away from strong villains. Koichi notes that there really are strong villains around, seemingly more than before. He ponders the idea of carrying a weapon around, but Kazuho advises against it.[29]
The next day, Kazuho is leading Narufest, and closes out the morning block with a performance of the Sisters of Saint Lila's Academy. Captain Celebrity is expected to appear as the guest hero of the occasion, however Makoto phones her that C.C. will not be able to attend today's concert as he is too busy shooting a commecial. Kazuho informs Miu and Yu of this bad news and they try to devise a solution to get out of that mess. When Koichi shows up in the Green Room, Miu chooses him as the special guest and throws him on stage, having Kazuho announce him as "The Crawler". The audience is underwhelmed at his presence and many are confused as to who he is.
This leads to an unexpected event. On the set where Captain Celebrity is filming a commercial, a villain known as Number 6 acts as a member of the production, and unleashes Batto Yobayakawa, now transformed into a Next-Level Villain. Wanting revenge on Naruhata's Vigilantes for his previous defeat, Batto flies towards Narufest upon hearing Koichi singing.
The villain swoops onto the stage, causing a number of damage in the process, and flies off with Koichi clutched in his clawed feet. Kazuho is horrified to see Koichi being kidnapped, but fortunately, Captain Celebrity arrives to defeat a Bat Villain and save Koichi, relieving Miu, Yu and Kazuho as the crowd got their long-awaited visit from an actual licensed Hero.[30]
Days later, because she is too busy to deal with it personally, Makoto asks Kazuho to represent Marukane Department Store in the Mascot Idol Carnival, a regional idol collaboration show in Osaka, celebrated on SS Mall in Super Minami. She accepts, and is accompanied by Koichi to act as her manager.
They arrive at the train station, and while Kazuho boards the train to Osaka, Koichi goes to buy something to eat during the trip. However, he misses the train to Osaka because he was busy buying bento boxes. The young man runs after the speeding bullet train while Pop shouts from the passenger window.
Believing that Koichi had missed the train Kazuho phones Makoto to inform her of the situation. She tells her not to panic, since she has all the necessary documents and information related to the trip, and the street idol can make it to the venue alone if Koichi doesn't catch up in time. As the train stops at Shinagawa Station, the door opens, which reveals a tired Koichi who somehow kept up with the vehicle, shocking Pop.
While eating their bento boxes, Koichi explains he manages to jump onto the side of the train and stick to it, finding out a new use of his Quirk by using the repelling forces from his hands to make like suction cups. Kazuho admits that she is impressed but says the way he discovered this new application of his powers was ridiculous.
Eventually, the pair get off at the lively and bustling Osaka. As they go out into the city Koichi cannot help but to try out his new ability. Kazuho tells him to knock it off. The two then hear a commotion down the road, and see an armed man running away from Fat Gum, whose currently eating a pack of takoyaki.
The criminal shoots at Fat Gum, but all he manages to do is make him drop his takoyaki. This infuriates the hero, who starts slapping him in retaliation for ruining his food. Koichi then pipes up and tells Fat Gum that all of food is unharmed, as he retrieved all the takoyaki before it fell. Fat Gum apologizes to the beaten crook for going too far and gives him some of his takoyaki as compensation.
The hero leaves along with Koichi and Kazuho, and asks them where they are headed. The two respond that they were going to the SS Mall in Super Minami, Fat Gum gives them directions to it and bids them farewell. As he leaves, Kazuho coments he's almost like a cartoon of a big guy.
Koichi and Pop eventually reach the venue, before making it to the green room. Koichi is impressed to see so many mascost idols, referring to them as weirdos, and Kazuho scolds him for calling them that. Suddeny, an eccentric young woman recognizes Kazuho as Pop Step. She starts a pantomime by snipping her fingers like a crab, before contorting her face to resemble the shell of a Heike crab and lowering her voice, which frightens both Koichi and Kazuho.
The woman then properly introduces herself as Monika Kaniyashiki. She explaing that she just showed the two her tagline and is representing Kanidoge at the event as an idol. Koichi and Kazuho act on the sheepish side to her proper introduction, and Monika assumes they lack sense of humor.
She says that her routine will take the country by storm, and wishes Kazuho the best of luck and goes off to talk to another idol. Koichi wonders if she and Pop can work a catchphrase like that into their act, though the girl doubts it would fit with her type of performance.[31]
After interpreting the theme of Marukane Department Store in the Idol Show, Kazuho and Koichi decide to see the exhibitors and the souvenir shops of the venue, as Makoto advised her to check out the place in order get some material for any inspiration. As they walk, they meet Monika againg, now riding a crab-shaped Mech. Her manager explains to the surprised Koichi and Kazuho that they had remodeled the industrial lifting arms into walking advertisement.
One of the idol show organizers informs Monika that it is soon her turn on stage, but she suddenly tells her boss that she needs to be absent for a moment to go to the restroom. The idol show schedule continues, but since Monika is taking too long to return, her manager asks Kazuho to handle the crab mecha.
What they did not know is that Monika is a covert police investigating the illegal traffic of trigger, that used the products of Kanidoge to distribute the drug throughout Japan.[32] Investigating, Monika and the police find the main suspect, who activates a code that makes the Kanidoge's mechas go on a rampage, and takes advantage to destroy all the evidences and escape.
While all this was happening, Kazuho had returned to the stage riding the mecha. She felt embarrassed of the situation she is in, since the Kanidoge's segment for the idol carnival it's being treated less like an idol act and more like a straight advertisement with the manager being onstage and talking about the company, to which spectators react negatively. As Pop wishes she can go home, her mech starts to go haywire.[33]
Kazuho is now trapped in a rampage mech, unable to free herself or stop the machine. Koichi tries to help her but fails. Fat Gum and Kaniko then arrive and chase the mech to stop it, but they are unable to catch it. Koichi tries again to save Kazuho and this time manages to cling to the back of the mech.
Kazuho is glad to see him, with the young man smugly saying he owes it all to his All Might hoodie. The girl asks if it's his usual hoodie since she didn't think he brought with him, but Koichi claims he's not the same version of The Crawler that she's familiar withas he wears a super rare All Might hoodie.
Pop just scowls at his idiocy and yells for him to set her free, but the student nervously says he has no idea how and tries to farm suggestions from her. An angry Kazuho calls him an useless idiot.[34]
Meanwhile, Monika asks asks Fat Gum to throw her to the mecha, allowing her to use her Ultimate Move Rocket Crab Clip to slice the mecha's legs, preventing it from moving forward. Monika quickly rescues Kazuho, just when the mecha starts its sequence of self-destruction. Monika, Koichi and Kazuho run as far as possible from the machine before it blows up, warning everyone present to leave. But Kazuho stumbles and Koichi launches to protect her, still too close to the mech.
At this moment, Fat Gum appears and jumps to block the explosion of the Mecha, absorbing all the kinetic energy with his Fat Absorption Quirk, saving Koichi and Kazuho's life. He holds enough time for everyone to move away before releasing all the energy, at the cost of his protective fat.
With the crisis over, Monika and Fat Gum must leave to help their fellow police officers. Monika’s manager asks her what is happening but she tells him that he will explain it later, just hang on a bit. Koichi and Kazuho know that means them too, but if they wait they will lose the train, and besides, they will have problems with their parents if they find out everything that happened, so they decide to leave the convention, but not before giving the manager a Marukane business card in case he wants to contact them.
With a long, stressful day behind them, Koichi slides through the city with Kazuho on his back, saying that he had fun despite the events that transpired. As the girl is bewildered about her friend easily brushing off the bombing, he then remembers that he almost forgot to buy some souvenirs.
The two arrive at the station and sleep on the train during their return trip.[35]
Team Ups Arc#
After the incident at the idol show, Kazuho returns with her daily life to continue with her studies, act in the Narufest of Marukane, and help Koichi from time to time when he decides to perform his activities as a vigilante.[36]
During one of his patrols, Koichi discovers a new power of his Quirk, the ability to shoot repulsion force blasts, which he names it as Scrappy Thrust Style. Once in his penthouse, he shows to Kazuho this new power, explaining her the process to execute it and starts throwing blasts. He then gets a bit too excited showing it off and accidentally blasts Kazuho aside while breaking a windowpane.
This angers Kazuho who shows him the bag containing Knuckleduster's brass knuckles, reminding Koichi that he hung these up as a reminder of what type of person he shouldn't try to be: someone who gets drunk on power and goes around wrecking things and hurting people for their own benefit. Koichi agrees on putting a lid on his new move for that reason, which Kazuho immediately backs him up on.[37]
The next day, despite her scold, she surprises Koichi training the Scrappy Thrust Style. She scold him again, remininding him that he can't use his Quirk as a projectile without a Hero License and says it's no better than throwing rocks at somebody to subdue them. While she calls out Koichi for already knowing the legal issues with using his move, the young man justifies it by saying his blasts aren't solid like a rock, and its power can be adjusted. Kazuho shuts down his rationale and says he could get arrested by a Hero or a police officer if they catch him using his Scrappy Thrust Style.
Koichi gives in to the girl's wishes and heads off for another Vigilante patrol, though Kazuho declines to join him due to the mountain of homework she has to take care of. She explains that her school has both middle and high school classes, and they make up for the direct admissions by giving out a ton of homework. Therefore, she asks Koichi to leave and not distract her any further.[38]
Despite Kazuho's warning, during his patrol he is forced to use the Scrappy Thrust Style to deal with Octoid, proving to be handy during the fight against the Next-Level Villains, in which he helps the hero Eraser Head. The next day, while Kazuho and Koichi are walking, they meet with Eraser Head. Koichi greets him, assuring Kazuho that they kinda became friends the other day. Aizawa simply looks at him menacingly, causing Koichi to back away. Kazuho chastises him for not thinking far ahead about how their reunion might play out.[39]
Although Koichi's carefree attitude was a problem, Kazuho continues to feel something for him, and this caused him to be involved in the police investigation about trigger distribution. It turns out that Koichi is invited by the Mad Hatters to participate in a mixer where to meet other girls. Moved by jealousy, Kazuho follows Koichi on his way to the mixer, casually meeting the hero Midnight, who explains that one of the girls is suspected of trafficking with trigger.
Midnight asks Kazuho for help, and using his influence, the Midnight Boys to distract two girls who would join the mixer, getting them to cancel their participation, and so she and Kazuho took their places as "substitutes."
As they change into their disguises, Midnight discusses the plan, noting that the guys in attendance are the Mad Hatters and Koichi. While the guys are free from suspicion, the two girls in attendance are their main suspects Rin Yaritezawa and Hina. Of the two, Rin is the prime one, as she's been a constant eyewitness at the recent mixers that spawned Instant Villain outbreaks. Midnight then thanks Kazuho for taking time out of her day to help her, with the student saying its fine.
After polishing up their disguises, Midnight assigns Kazuho to make small talk and distract the quieter of the two girls, Hina, so the older woman can keep an eye on Rin. The two then step out of the vehicle, as Midnight and Kazuho head out as "Kaori" and "Kazuha" respectively.
Once at the Mixer, "Kaori" and "Kazuha" start chatting and having some drinks with the boys. Thanks to her costume Koichi does not recognize her. At one point, "Kaori" leaves to fix her makeup and asks "Kazuha" to come along with her. Once in the bathroom, they fix their disguises and go over the plan before returning to the table.
Following the plan, "Kazuha" tries to strike up a conversation with a blushing Hina, saying that she usually doesn't go to events like these. Hina nervously says she tends to get roped into them because Rin drags her to them. "Kazuha" picks up that the two are very close friends, with Hina softly saying it's "something like that" and that they go way back.
This creates resentment in Rin, who already disliked the idea of organizing the mixer with a band she didn't think highly of. She also can't stand that "Kaori" and "Kazuha" have suddenly taken the place of the two girls that were originally supposed to attend the mixer. She starts chugging large amounts of alcohol to cope. She gets up to leave but collapses due to alcohol consumption and throws up on the floor, Koichi rushes to her aid and hands her a towel to cover her mouth with.
Moved by his kindness, Rin starts blushing, which "Kazuha" notices and is flabbergasted by. Suddenly, Hina snatches the towel and bolts to the bathroom without saying a word. Extremely jealous that Koichi has gained Rin's attention, Hina is determined to get revenge on him by mixing a few drops of Trigger into his drink.[40]
The Mixer continues, and Rin begins to show too close to Koichi, and begins to flirt with him. This annoys "Kazuha" and also approaches Koichi, while "advising" that Rin should lie down and get more rest since she almost vomited. Meanwhile "Kaori" egging them on. Koichi, on the other hand, feels a bit awkward of the situation. Shortly afterwards Hina returns, with new makeup and appearance, and also begins to show interest in Koichi.
This generates jealousy in "Kazuha", who takes "Kaori" to the bathroom. Kazuho asks Midnight when she is going to arrest the suspects, but the hero replies that she can not arrest them because at the moment they have not done anything wrong. For now, she's just going to keep gathering intel while enjoying the mixer, and noticing her attraction to Koichi, advises her to make some moves on him. Blushing, Kazuho says isn't necessary.
The two return to the table just as a waiter arrives with another round of drinks, although nobody knows who to ordered another round but they decide just roll with it. At that moment, Hina sneaks a few drops of Trigger into the drinks she intends to give him, but for one reason or another, Koichi rejects them and ended up being drinks for other customers of the bar.
When Hina offers him soft drinks, Kazuho almost blows her cover by saying that Koichi can't stand carbonated drinks, and the college student wonders how she could possibly know that, and the drinks are consumed by other members of the Mad Hatters. Soon, the pub descends into chaos when the Quirks of those who consumed the drugged drinks go out of control.
Seeing that another Instant Villain outbreak is taking place, Midnight strips out of her disguise as Kaori and uses her Somnambulist Quirk that makes everyone sleep (except Kazuho, Rin and Hina), stopping the rampage. Then she turns her attention on Hina, saying that she knows the girl is a Trigger dealer, but she first wants to know about her motive. Hina, now shocked and tearing up, says that she drugged everyone because she hated the fact that Rin wanted to hang out with guys and not her.
On impulse, she takes out another Trigger vial, though Midnight quickly stops her and lets out more of her fragrance into the room. Hina then falls unconscious into the Hero's torso, as Midnight says she'll always be an ally to lost young ladies like the student. Midnight then strokes Hina's hair and coos about how much she enjoys hearing these "youth gone wrong stories", with Kazuho thinking that her comment should have been kept to herself.
The next day, in his Penthouse, Koichi tells Kazuho everything about the incident with the uncontrolled Quirks, the presence of Midnight and the fact that someone drugged the drinks, before moving on to talking about the girls. Kazuho nervously asks what he thought of them, and Koichi tells her that the girls he was hanging with were all strange characters, and kinda scary. The girl then blushes and asks him nervously if there wasn’t at least one respectable girl, but Koichi only reaffirms his stance.[41] The mission makes Midnight and Kazuho become friends, to the point that Midnight gives Kazuho her cellphone number to call her if she needs help.
The next day Koichi encounters the villain Tommy S. Gordon, who relentlessly pursues near the Hotta brothers' shop. Kazuho is with him and asks the Hotta where Eraser Head is. Ichiro says he didn't show up today and promises to call him to deal with the rogue Villain, while Jiro tells Koichi to keep circling around the block to keep the Villain occupied until help arrives. Kazuho has the idea of calling Midnight to help, the Hotta brothers are happy about the possibility of seeing the R-18 Hero again. An annoyed Kazuho tells them to stop bugging off.
Without anyone noticing, Knuckleduster is sitting on the rooftop of a near building, observing proudly how Koichi gets on alone. While running away from the villain, Koichi passes close to his master, believing he has seen him, and he tells Kazuho. His friend tells him to stay focused on the Villain and says if Knuckleduster was really there then the man would help them. Unbeknownst to the duo, Knuckleduster passes by them on the other side of the road, leaving the place without contacting them.[42]
Sky Egg Arc#
By the end of December, the Marukane Performers decide to celebrate Christmas together in Marukane. Kazuho enjoys the festivities along with Koichi, Makoto, Captain Celebrity and many others. When the party is over, Kazuho congratulates Captain Celebrity for the good news that he will be a father and will be able to return to the United States.
After the party, the Little Sisters of Saint Lila's Academy get into a taxi, but from the sky appears a flying creature that takes the taxi, with the girls inside. Captain Celebrity goes out in pursuit, but just when he is going to reach them, the creature explode. Fortunately, Captain Celebrity manages to rescue the girls on time and unwounded.[43]
This feat made Captain Celebrity's probability increase, and on the occasion of his return to the U.S., Makoto decides to organize a spectacular farewell party at the Tokyo Sky Egg, inviting numerous professional heroes for the occasion. Kazuho, as well as the other members of the Marukame, are surprised to learn that they will also be part of the Show. When Kazuho starts discussing that with Miu and Yu, they freak out when they realize the size and notoriety of the event in which they are going to participate.[44]
During the weeks leading up to the event, Kazuho prepares intensely with his teammates: train for the performances, study the dances choreographies, organize the costumes, etc. She is so focused for the show that she hardly pays attention to anything else, even ignoring Koichi.[44]
After several weeks, the farewell party of Captain Celebrity takes place. The event has a great success among the attendees, who enjoy the various acts, the participation of the heroes, etc. Kazuho and his companions go out to dance and perform for the public.[45]
However, that celebration is suddenly interrupted when the Tokyo Sky Egg is attacked by five creatures equal to the one it attacked during Christmas, known as Bombers. Captain Celebrity comes out to face each other, but the Bombers damage the structure, and Captain Celebrity must use his strength to prevent the building from collapsing with thousands of people inside, being defenseless against the Bombers' attacks.
That attack had been orchestrated by Number 6, an agent of the Villain Factory, a criminal organization responsible for Trigger's traffic and several villain attacks in recent months. Number 6 had also been responsible for the attack during Christmas, made to discover some weak point in the Captain, and had meticulously planned that attack to assassinate him.[46][47]
Nonetheless, thanks to the intervention of Koichi and the heroes who were there, they manage to defeat the Bombers. Frustrated because his plans has been dismantled, orders the last bomber to self-destruct in a poweful explosion, making the Tokyo Sky Egg begins to fall down. Fortunately for everyone, All Might arrives on time to save everyone, landing the Tokyo Sky Egg dome safely.[48][49][50]
After thwarting the attack, Kazuho and everyone of the Marukane Performers, from the performers to the staff, decide to stay and help, are handing out for free official merchandising of the event (hoodies, food, drinks,...) among people to help them feel better. Number 6 makes a last desperate attempt to cause the greatest number of victims, but his plan fails again thanks to All Might, and this time the villain decides to retire.[51]
During the days following the attack, Kazuho helps take care of Captain Celebrity, who is in the hospital recovering from the serious injuries he suffered from the Bombers. After two weeks, Captain Celebrity manages to recover enough to being able to return to the USA with his family. Aat the international airport, the Marukane members meet to say goodbye to them. To the surprise of Kazuho, Koichi and the Captain, Makoto announces that she is also leaving for the United States to attend a prestigious university and continue her studies.
That night, Koichi returns along with Kazuho to his penthouse. Once there, they start talking about Makoto. He talks about Makoto's departure and how well she handled the press, but Kazuho thinks she could have given Koichi more credit. Koichi thinks that some credit would be fine, so tells Kazuho that if she wants she can praise him, but a flustered Kazuho replies that he can't ask for it like that.[52]
Final Performance Arc#
Three years have passed since Koichi became a vigilante. Throughout that time, Koichi has continued to protect Naruhata from malefactors and helping local people, to the point that he is considered a local hero. During all that time, Kazuho has been helping him with his vigilantism tasks. However, things are starting to change. To her surprise, Koichi confesses that his days as The Crawler are about to end. Once he gets a job, he'll have no business playing hero anymore and stop being a vigilante, completely shocking Kazuho.[53]
In Marukane, things are not going well. Since she went to the United States, former manager Makoto has been successful and has become a celebrity in the country. However, with her departure, the success of the Marukane Performers began to decline progressively. The Narufest is becoming less and less popular, and the Marukane's directive have been slashing their budget. Gradually its members began to leave, nowadays too busy with jobs or studies, to the point that only Kazuho, Miu, Yu and the Sisters of Saint Lila's Academy remain.
Because their last show did not have much of an audience, the remaining members have gathered to suggest ideas that can boost attendance, but they're unable to find the right solution. Miu does not take the meeting too seriously, commenting that she is now interested in finding a boyfriend during high school. When mentioning this, she asks Kazuho how her relationship with Koichi is going, which makes her very nervous. She tells Kazuho that she risks that Koichi will move on and take an interest in another girl. Yu tries to stop her sister, although she acknowledges that many things have changed since then, and tells Kazuho that she should think about her relationship with Koichi.
At that time, their new manager, Rokuro Nomura enters the meeting room and communicates the bad news. Despite his efforts to try to convince them of the opposite, Marukane's executives have decided that next month's Narufest will be the last. This saddens the girls, although it was somewhat predictable, and they decide to end the meeting.
Kazuho walks back to the penthouse, sad because the group is going to break-up soon. While walking, she thinks about Miu's words, and decides to cook curry for Koichi. Upon arriving the penthouse, she is surprised to find that Makoto is there, cooking curry herself. After dinner, Makoto tells Koichi and Kazuho that she has decided to return to Japan, despite her success in the United States. When Makoto asks how things are going with Narufest, Kazuho tries to answer her, but Koichi does it first, saying it is rollin' along just fine. Kazuho decides to play along.
Kazuho decides to leave the penthouse, but she barely steps away when she regrets not telling Makoto the truth. When she turns around, she sees Makoto hugging Koichi and eavesdrops on their conversation.[54] Makoto confesses her feelings for Koichi, who is surprised by her confession and doesn't know what to answer. Although Makoto would like her feelings to be reciprocal, she decides to give Koichi time to think well about her answer, as she also wants to take into account Kazuho's feelings. Makoto is sure that Kazuho is in love with Koichi too, so she gives him time to figured out how he and Kazuho feel about it before he make his decision. The whole conversation leaves Kazuho confused and nervous.
That conversation makes Kazuho evasive with Koichi the next morning whenever he tries to speak to her. At night, she understands that she needs to put her thoughts together and confess her feelings to Koichi. But when she compares herself with Makoto, Kazuho realizes that she is better than her in any aspect. In addition, she knows that her success is thanks to Makoto. Depressed, she starts watching online videos of when she started performing in the streets as Pop☆Step, at a very young age. The clip of her first performance gives her the courage not to give up.[2]
The next day, after talking with her companions on how to organize the last Narufest, Kazuho decides to perform a solo performance on the streets. She can barely sing as three thugs appear mocking her. Fortunately, Nomura also appears and takes her out of there before there are more problems.
The two go to a café, where Kazuho explains to Nomura about her solo project. Kazuho explains that she wants to craft a future for herself beyond the Narufest. Nomura asks Kazuho to let him listen to her song, getting too excited for its lyrics and composition, so he decides to help Kazuho and offers himself to be her producer, so everyone can listen to her song. When they leave, they meet again with the trio thugs. Their leader attacks them, but Nomura manages to defeat him and restrain him with a hold. Nomura tells him that he is a hero, and he shows his hero license to prove it, surprising Kazuho.[55]
The next day, per Nomura's advice, Kazuho tries to convince Koichi to obtain his hero license. She tells him that he could get his license while still doing his day job, but Koichi dismisses the idea because it would be too difficult for him and asks her why she is so interested in what he does, to which she denies that she does. While on the topic of the future, Koichi tries to talk to her about another matter, but Kazuho apologizes because she has to get to a meeting at Marukane, promising she will hear him out later.
After the Marukane meeting, where everyone agrees to contact the FeatherHATS members for the last Narufest, Kazuho and Nomura leave quickly to carry out a street performance. Kazuho sings one of her songs, obtaining great success among passersby.
After this, Kazuho and Nomura celebrate the success of their performance at a bar, where the manager tells her that his full name is Rokuro Nomura. After finishing, while they walk the streets, Nomura confesses that he wants to be her producer and do everything for her. Kazuho feels flattered by his words, but she tells him that her songs are for herself and give herself courage. She leaves giving thanks to Nomura for everything.
Kazuho feels sure of herself and prepares to confess her feelings to Koichi, but suddenly loses that confidence when he shows her the tie Makoto gave him for his interview, and leaves immediately without saying anything to Koichi. Confused, he tries to ask Kazuho what happened, but she was already gone. At her home, Kazuho locks herself in her room and phones Nomura. Crying, she apologizes for rushing off earlier and tells him that she needs him to be there for her. Nomura replies that he is there to help her.[56]
The two agree to meet in a café, where Kazuho tells him that she still does not have enough confidence in herself. Nomura responds by telling her the appropriate answers to encourage her, and suggests a change of scenery. He tells her that she should come and visit his own "secret hideout", taking her to a rundown building. Nomura apologizes for the place, but Kazuho doesn't mind because she knows someone who lives in a similar dump.
Then, Nomura takes Kazuho to the basement and asks her to enter a room. Thinking that there is a studio there, Kazuho follows, only to see a dark room and hear a strange buzz. As she walks into the room, Rokuro Nomura decides to stop pretending, revealing himself as the villain, Number 6. He pushes Kazuho in and locks the door behind her. It's dark, but she quickly finds a pile of corpses in the corner, and that the strange buzz came from a swarm of bees.[57]
Over the past several years, Number 6 had been cultivating the Queen Bee back to its full power, and had chosen Kazuho to be its next host. Possessing her body, Kazuho and the Queen Bee merge to become Bee☆Pop, and joins Number 6 as the duo, "Rock and Pop", taking to the streets with her Bomb Bees.
After being missing for several days, Kazuho's family informs the police of her disappearance, and her friends search for her all over Naruhata. Among them is Koichi, the most concerned about her, and with the disappearance, he begins to reflect on his relationship with her. While on a whipping, Koichi is attacked by Bee☆Pop, leaving him shocked.[58]
Arranged by Number 6, the now-possessed Kazuho begins rampaging the streets with explosives, all the while playing her music. Koichi tries to stop her, but is defeated and falls into a dark alley. After causing great destruction, Bee☆Pop says goodbye to all the "viewers", promising that she will return to offer them an even better show.[59]
The next day, the media reports on the bombing that Bee☆Pop carried out, with police identifying the culprit as Pop☆Step, the well-known idol from Naruhata. Because of this, the authorities register her as a villain through the villain designation registry. This sets a precedent because the designation and registry of a person is usually reserved for repeat offenders charged with Quirk-based crimes, and Kazuho's case is a rare exception due her age and the fact that this is her first offence.
Both her family and friends cannot believe what has happened to her. With the threat of her next "show", the heroes organize patrols in case she decides to appear. Meanwhile, Koichi was rescued by Soga and his friends after the battle,[60] where he explains that Kazuho is being controlled by the parasitic Queen Bee. During the following days, determined to rescue her, Koichi trains hard to improve his mastery and abilities of his Quirk,[61][62] while Soga devises a plan to defeat her and free her from the bee. Analyzing the videos of the attack, Soga realizes that Kazuho seems to be in pain.
Soga's assumption proves to be right because in a high-rise apartment, the possessed Kazuho is bloodied and nearly broken. She crawls from her bed to the apartment window to look out towards the city, while her mind is filled with violent thoughts, confusing strong feelings of love and hate. She cries over Koichi, saying he will never forget about her, as her left eye bleeds.[63]
A few days later, Bee☆Pop decides to take action. After remembering some moments of her childhood, where she told her mother that she wants to be a performer rather than a hero, she starts bombing the streets of Naruhata and hijacks the radio spectrum, broadcasting her rampage, while singing and dancing. More and more heroes begin to arrive at Bee☆Pop's location, although this does not worry her. On the contrary, their presence stimulates her, even more, to continue with her "Showtime", playing her musical theme "Inferno" once again.
One of the heroes there is Endeavor,[1] along with his subordinates the Flaming Sidekickers. Despite the fact that Detective Naomasa wants to capture Pop, Endeavor considers her too dangerous a foe for it, so she decides to take even more extreme measures. After receiving the signal that the streets have been emptied of civilians, Endeavor attacks Bee☆Pop with his Ultimate Move Hellfire Storm, which releases an intense hellfire tornado towards Pop.
Little by little, the bees begin to explode due to the intense heat of the flames, as the tornado gets closer and closer to Pop, who seems unable to react in time to the incoming, flaming death. However, Endeavor is forced to call off his attack when he is warned of the presence of another person at the scene, who turns out to be the vigilante The Crawler, who is there to save Kazuho.[64] Endeavor is furious of his interference, but due to the drawbacks from his Hellflame Quirk, he is forced to stop to cool down his body. Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes are ordered to try to stop Bee☆Pop and The Crawler until Endeavor is ready to fight again.
Both Bee☆Pop and Koichi evade the heroes who try to catch them, with a little "help" from Number 6 who, posing as a Pro Hero, kills several of them by shooting them without anyone noticing.[65] After this, Koichi manages to get to Bee☆Pop, ready to stop her. The possessed Kazuho, after having a vision of what her life with Koichi would be like if none of that had happened, declares that she's gonna be singing her newest single "Bloom".
Bee☆Pop starts singing her song, making the bees attack Koichi as he dodges her precise explosions and fights back. Kazuho's song reflects her own despair and sadness, and she wants everyone to know, especially Koichi. Thinking that she had already achieved what she wanted, Bee☆Pop finishes her song and the bees begin forming a circle around her. She is planning to blow herself up, ending her life. She wishes her death is so shocking that it will impossible for Koichi to forget.
Koichi is knocked down by one of Bee☆Pop's exploding bees, but by using a grappling hook he avoids falling to the ground and uses it to propel himself towards the controlled Kazuho one more time, using a double jump on top of that. Yelling out her name, he surprisingly makes his way to Pop. When she notices him, Kazuho's real mind begins to break through the mind control that Queen Bee has over her.
Seeing Koichi approaching her, Kazuho tries to reach his hand as she says his name. When they seem like they are about to pull it off, Kazuho gets shot by Number 6, who doesn't want that whole scene to ruin his plans.[66]
In horror, Koichi immediately saves Kazuho and lands with little trouble in an alley. Once on the ground, Koichi checks that she is still alive. Right after, Number 6 appears in front of him and introduces himself as the hero O'Clock II, and the one who shot Kazuho, although he clarifies that the shot was not lethal, but was to inject a drug into Kazuho that alters the metabolism of the bees inside her.
At first, Koichi calms down with the explanation, but it doesn't take long for him to find out that something is fishy with that "hero", especially when he starts a monologue about how every hero needs an arch-enemy, claiming Koichi as that person, and that the drug he injected into Kazuho makes the Queen Bee and the hive eager to self-destruct. Koichi watches in shock as Kazuho begins to convulse and a swarm of bees leaves her body. Koichi quickly carries Kazuho in his arms and run as fast as possible from the bees that are exploding around him.
Number 6's plan is to defeat the "villain" The Crawler, while "tragically" being unable to save Kazuho, who will blow herself up, and after this "tragedy", he will swear on her wretched soul to never let such a thing happen again. In this way, he will create the "heartbreaking" debut of O'Clock II that will make people instant fans of him.
Seeing that Koichi is about to escape with Kazuho in his arms, Number 6 begins to chase him to finish them off, but soon Endeavor also appears,[67] and begins to attack Koichi, without noticing the presence of the "hero" O'Clock II. Trying to stop Koichi once and for all, Endeavor uses his Ultimate Move Hell Minefield, and the ground begins to explode from the attack, forcing both Koichi and Number 6 to jump to dodge, but while Number 6 makes a miscalculation and is engulfed by flames, Koichi forces his Quirk to the maximum, allowing the Vigilante to blast off and fly into the sky, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Up in the skies, an unconscious Kazuho manages to say his name. Koichi holds Kazuho in his arms and assures her that it's gonna be okay,[68] and uses his Slide and Glide Quirk to head towards the position where his allies are in order to extract the Queen Bee from her, unaware that they have been spotted by Midnight, who follows them.
Once in place, Soga prepares to perform the operation but Koichi stops him, warning that Kazuho has been shot with a drug that disrupts the Queen Bee. Faced with this unforeseen event, Soga no longer knows whether to continue with the plan, but at that moment Midnight appears, reassuring everyone by saying that she is a friend of Kazuho and she is there to help.
After Koichi and the others explain the situation to her, Midnight uses her Somnambulist Quirk on Kazuho, putting both her and the parasitic bee to sleep. Now all they have to do is take Kazuho to a hospital where she can receive the appropriate medical care.
Endeavor had also followed them and appears to stop Bee☆Pop and The Crawler, but Midnight explains that they have already captured the villain Bee☆Pop and she urgently needs medical care. Endeavor allows them to take Pop to the hospital, as he is sure that there is something bigger in the whole thing, and wants to interrogate her.
Having slipped away, Koichi is found by Number 6, burned to a crisp by Endeavor's flames. The charred villain swears that as soon as he recovers, he will take revenge on Koichi by killing him, but first he will kill Kazuho as he cannot allow her to reveal his secrets. After confessing his intentions, he crawls away, leaving Koichi concerned.[69]
At Soga and his friends' insistence, Kazuho is taken to a specific maximum security hospital. Once admitted, the doctors successfully extract the parasitic Queen Bee from her brain, but Kazuho has not yet regained consciousness and will probably suffer long-term consequences. Midnight stays there to take care of her.
Shortly after, Noamasa arrives to talk to Midnight about the situation, and comments on the high security the hospital has. Midnight replies that since Kazuho was admitted, the Hospital received inquiries from unidentified individuals and the alarms started going off. Midnight tells him that she would like to transfer her to an even more secure and isolated facility, however, Kazuho is in no condition to be moved.
Meanwhile, Soga, Rapt, and Moyuru stay outside guarding the hospital, with Koichi hidden nearby, keeping an eye out for Number 6, who had sworn vengeance to Koichi and his intention to kill Kazuho.[69]
Naruhata Lockdown Arc#
The days go by and Kazuho is still unconscious. The medics inform Midnight that her condition has stabilized, but they are still unsure when she'll regain consciousness. Later, Midnight reports Soga about this, and he tells her that they will collaborate with the authorities once they are sure Kazuho's safety is guaranteed, which Midnight agrees.
Meanwhile Koichi, while resting on the roof of a building near the hospital, looks up at the full moon and thinks back to sometime in the past, where he brought Kazuho outside his penthouse to look at the moon. He talked about how the views are normally not that great due to all the buildings surrounding them, and that a smaller slice of the sky makes the moon look bigger.
Hearing his words, Kazuho blushed and laughed at the line for being "so deep". A bit embarrassed, Koichi replied he thought it was a cool line, so Kazuho derisively considers it "folksy". In the present, Koichi thinks about Kazuho and how when she finally wakes up, they'll have plenty to talk about, whatever that may be, and that he's not going anywhere.[70]
A few days later, Number 6 finally puts his plan into action to assassinate Kazuho. With his Radio Waves Quirk, he causes a huge blackout in Naruhata, cutting off all communications, preventing anyone from calling in outside help.[71] He then uses creatures called the Anonymous to cause chaos and keep the heroes and Koichi busy,[72][73] while he and other Anonymous raid the police-guarded hospital.[74]
While Midnight and several doctors watch over Kazuho's body, Naomasa and a few policemen are the last defense to Kazuho's room. Number 6 mocks his efforts to try to stop him, but falls into the trap set by the detective and Soga to prevent him from using his Overclock Quirk, and thanks to Koichi's timely intervention,[75] he is defeated and restrained.
Midnight leaves the room once Naomasa calls her to uses her Quirk on the villain, but Number 6 manages to free himself and escape. Still, Number 6 doesn't go far, as he doesn't want to give up on the idea of killing Kazuho, so he was about to try again but this time without subtlety, when Koichi shows up to confront him.[76] This triggers an intense battle between the two through the streets of Naruhata.
During the fight, the villain undergoes several transformations until he becomes a gigantic flaming figure,[77] while Koichi, after being visited by the vestige of his master Knuckleduster, takes his Quirk to a new level and develops the Knuckle Style.[78] While they struggle, Kazuho suddenly starts to suffer from a seizure in her hospital bed, while Midnight worryingly looks on, thinking about how much Koichi is doing right now for her sake, so she can't give in.
Meanwhile, outside the hospital, Koichi is worried about the idea of attacking using the Knuckle Style, since due to the power of his blows he could kill Number 6. Knuckleduster's vestige encourages him to do so as it is "kill or be killed", but Koichi replies that murdering someone would be fine. Suddenly, the vestige of Kazuho appears as Pop☆Step, and backs Koichi up, much to his surprise.
While evading Number 6's attacks, a confused Koichi is glad to "see" her again. "Pop" asks why he's fighting such dangerous foe, with Koichi clarifying he didn't start the fight, but he must keep him there to prevent his rampage from spreading to other areas. "Knuckleduster" says it's noble, but also that he needs to fight back and scramble the villain's brain, and "Pop" adding without trying to kill.
Koichi says he's worried if he fights back she'll get mad at him, causing her to snipe back making her seem like a girl to be feared, until he clarifies he's not scared, he just doesn't want her to hate him, causing her to intensely blush. Leaping into the air, "Pop" says there's a difference between her "getting mad" and "hating him", and in the bright shine of the moon, tells him there's nothing he could do to make her hate him, and she'll always love him.
Now that he received the reassurance from "Pop☆Step", Koichi turns around and strikes Number 6 back with his new technique, piercing his flaming body several times.[79] Seeing the villain regenerating the wounds, "Pop" warns Koichi that his attacks don't do anything to him, only to be surprised by Koichi's relieved face, as he realizes he can keep throwing his strong punches as long as it doesn't hit his real body, continuing to buy time. "Pop" is shocked to hear Koichi that what he was attacking is not Number 6's real body.
Number 6 violently counters Koichi and results in the young hero running for safety, being followed by "Pop" and "Knuckleduster". Pop suggests that he should run to safety, but Koichi comments that he feels more daring than usual, and continues launching blows at the villain. Number 6 quickly heals his wounds and fights back. Both illusions advise Koichi on how to deal with Number 6, with "Pop" yelling at him to evade the attacks and keep running while "Knuckleduster" encouraging him to have more initiative in combat.[80]
Even though he doesn't always come out unscathed from each Number 6 attack, Koichi continues to hold off the villain until the Pro Heroes finally start arriving,[81] helping him confront the villain while also evacuating the citizens who are still in the area. Endeavor eventually arrives as well,[82] with All Might shortly after, and between the two they finally manage to defeat Number 6. However, his remains fall into an alleyway and with the last of his strength, he regenerates his body enough to sneak up on Koichi undetected, before disappearing for real.[83]
Number 6 confronts Koichi for the last time, and wanting to leave a mark on the world that proves his existence, he cuts Koichi's face, saying that he now has a scar that will always make him remember the one guy he failed to save no matter how hard he tried. He then blows up in a suicide bombing with what remains of his cells.
While immolating himself, Number 6 tries to draw on his past memories, only for there to be nothing worth remembering. However, in his last moments, he begins to remember to the song he listened to with Kazuho when he was "Rokuro Nomura", remembering that the song was very good and he even burst into tears when he first heard it.
Elsewhere, the Pop vestige sings for Number 6, with the Knuckleduster vestige asking why she isn't singing for Koichi, which she explains is because it's a song about being stubborn and hanging in there, further stating she'd rather talk normally to Koichi than sing to him. She continues to think about how they had lots of good times together, but she still never told him what really mattered, saying bye to "her hero" as the vigilante vestiges fade away.
Back at the hospital, Midnight performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Kazuho, preventing her from dying. Just then, Kazuho finally wakes up and Midnight advises her to rest until Koichi returns.[84]
Two weeks later, Kazuho continued to recover, having felt physically drained after waking up, while Koichi recovered from his injuries in the same hospital. Due to the damage caused in the incident, Koichi is about to face repercussions for it, when Captain Celebrity and Makoto return to defend him, declaring their plan to make Koichi his Sidekick. After mentioning they plan to provide protection for him and Kazuho, Koichi asks how she's doing, and Makoto tells him she's finally reached the point where she can get out of bed, bringing her into the room on a wheelchair. Koichi is happy to see her, while she silently reacts.
Naomasa tells Kazuho that, just like the other Instant Villains, she was a victim affected by drugs and mind-control as a result of the Queen Bee, and that they just want a full statement from her when she's ready, as they're not out to prosecute them, only show they are innocent of wrongdoing. Before Makoto is about to take Kazuho out of the room, she gives Koichi a bag containing the All Might hoodie he gave her when he rescued her all those years ago. Koichi is excited to see it, but doesn't recognize the hoodie, asking where she got it, with Kazuho saying she just had it at home. Koichi says even though he won't be wearing them anymore, they'll make a great keepsake, as he plans to retire for good, causing Kazuho to get nervous.
Makoto takes Kazuho back to her room, telling her once she's all healed up they'll find some place for her to relax, when Kazuho suddenly stands out of her wheelchair, rushing back over to Koichi. She thinks about how she barely said anything to him, and all the things she wants to say to him. She calls his name entering his room, only to see him embarrassingly trying on the All Might hoodie. Koichi awkwardly claims he couldn’t help himself looking at the hoodie, causing Kazuho to break down in tears and embrace him in his arms in relief. After a tearful Makoto catches Koichi in his lie that he doesn't really want to retire, she gets Koichi to sign a contract, officially becoming Captain Celebrity's Sidekick.[85]
Over the next year, Kazuho continues her rehabilitation in the hospital, while Koichi moves to New York City with the Captain Celebrity Corporation, becoming the Pro Hero "The Skycrawler". By April, Kazuho is visited by Soga who has been frequently checking in on her. He asks how she's doing, which she responds that she can walk on her own again, though doesn't believe she'll be able to Leap around like she used to. Soga tells her to take it easy, and since the police are arriving to get her statement tomorrow, to not push herself, and be honest about her missing chunks of memory.
Despite that, Kazuho still wants to take responsibility for all the trouble she caused, but Soga reminds her she's still a victim of the Queen Bee, and that Koichi, who just laughed off the destruction he inadvertently caused, should be the first one to feel guilty.
Soga leaves just as Miu arrives to visit, which she is confused to see. She tells Kazuho about what the Narufest crew have been up to: the Mad Hatters Leader and Dance Squad President are adjusting to their jobs, the Sisters are training new students, and Yu has gotten a boyfriend at her college. Miu also states how she's got a part-time job at Hopper's Cafe, lamenting on not being able to find a boyfriend for herself there.
She proceeds to mention how they are mostly done with repairs near the station area, and that they have restarted the development plans in the old quarter. Kazuho says Makoto told her that they are going to build new facilities with the Captain Celebrity Corporation shelling out a lot of resources for it. Miu then mentions how they've started tearing down Koichi's Penthouse, causing Kazuho to reflect on how everything's changing so fast, and she's still standing still.
Miu immediately butts in how she's in the same situation, having failed her entrance exam and unable to find a boyfriend. She then brings up how the Hopper's Café crew are planning to open up a second joint, but don't want to have another cat café, so she has been brainstorming ideas, including a meet-a-greet, telling Kazuho she's going to be part of her plans to help out. Kazuho says she'd love to do that stuff again, though Miu notices she doesn't look too eager, realizing she's still thinking about waiting for Koichi. She asks her how he's doing, and Kazuho responds with a smile, how he never changes and is just "normal".[86]
Sometime later, Kazuho is released from the hospital and has resumed her daily life, hanging out with Miu. She receives a text from Koichi, who she has continued to keep in contact with, who shows off an All Might hoodie he received from the locals. She and Miu jokingly respond that he shouldn't be excited over something like that as a Pro Hero, while she looks on, cheeks lightly blushing.[87]