23: Beautiful Bones.

Beautiful Bones.

Even after a week to reflect on past events, Felix was still worried about the sources of the problems he had faced since his arrival in Japan. Already a month has passed, and he felt as if he had made many enemies. From this strange guy capable of exploding and restructuring people, this hand in the MMA tournament that emerged out of nowhere, the Hero Commission siphoning off his time and energy, Mt.Lady... and now a psychopath wanted for multiple knife murders which also tried to kill him. What next? A fucking Dark Soul boss?

—I'm out of luck... or maybe it's just karma...

To tell the truth, he wanted to stay in the shadows and boost people from the beginning, but he should have obeyed all the orders of the commission, like a good dog. If he had done that, it would be impossible for him to get out of the situation when those vultures once got a hold of him. So... not a lot of solution was left; it was fighting and struggling against the authorities by doing half of what they wanted, finding people willing to help him, and pretending to be the victim of the situation... which was more or less accurate.

Moreover, he didn't want to show his full potential in front of those people, too risky if someone with lousy attention was around, information and rumors spread faster than a pulmonary virus after all.

The young man knew very well that solving issues like these would take time, mostly since they "watched" him almost all the time. No one gave him clues about this, but his apartment was in a highly secure location in the city, and he knew very well that the commission had injected a tracer under his skin when he was in Tartarus. But ripping out a tracker isn't so complicated if you can shut off your pain.

Felix wasn't sure of anything, but logically, with so much to keep an eye on him, and with Rumi, Nighteye and Iwao always and in turn at his side every day, the Hero Commission thought they wouldn't need to give more attention to an individual whose past and results were inconclusive.

However, during the last week, after his first kendo and sword training, Mirko's body's first changes made their appearance, nothing visible to the people but something clearly detectable for professionals like them. Rumi Usagiyama was gaining muscle mass, more supple ligaments, better mood and underwent a slight change in her quirk, her nails becoming harder and her legs even more flexible than before. All this in just one month. It wasn't the level of an awakened quirk, but maybe Felix could trigger this awakening quicker than average?

The evidentiary results of the rabbit hero Mirko in terms of the number of cases solved in a short period could only support the fact that these sudden changes were initiated by an external influence. And the quirkless bureaucrats of the Hero Public Safety Commission, stubborn as they were, finally had to take the obvious for granted on the last day that Rumi was still under their command. But it was already too late to repair their mistakes.

Moreover, Felix isn't the type of dude to be manipulated without gaining anything in exchange since he's most of the time aware of people's shenanigans.

Whether it was Felix or the HPSC members, everyone knew that reaching an arrangement would no longer be possible. And given the former inmate's hostility towards the high hierarchy, they had good reason to worry... Even asking for help from some heroes to handle him would bring their shenanigans to the surface…

"Tremblay-san." began a nice but sharp voice behind him. The person was wearing the hero suit he always wore when he was training people with sword handling: Mr. Brave, if Felix remembered well, a hero who can use his hair to make weapons, etc. "Even if your results are not that good, as I've already told you recently, you're making progress at a frantic pace compared to others, so…"

"Really? I guess it's good for me then," answered Felix, remembering once again the false identity he created to enter the place without having to worry too much. "So I'm going to train with you now?"

"Well, it's planned since I saw that your standard is higher than that of a beginner, and this just by instinct… but you still gonna work with the other attendee... So, with the right coach and the right training, you could handle katana, tanto, and even tachi without any problem. If you combine all this with tantojutsu, then you would be the perfect swordsman. You could even become my sidekick if you want."

"You really want me to become a hero in some sort, huh?" Felix grinned by taking back the bamboo sword that the hero had managed to knock out of his hands. "Fair enough, but I'm quite busy right now, who known, maybe in the future." he continued, answering evasively to avoid giving too much information about him. "By the way, if I'm not mistaking, tantojutsu is the way to handle knives in a fight, right? Isn't a little bit too extreme for a hero?"

"You sometimes need to stab at the right spot to save both yourself and the villain."

"Saving the villains, huh."

The former prisoner could understand this pity applied to thugs; after all, it had also saved him once, but keeping the most dangerous criminals, with quirks capable of innumerable macabre feats in a place with many other hazardous people... it's never a good idea, even if the security level is high.

Killing the villains wouldn't be heroic, too… but... Japan is the country most likely to accept the death penalty for its criminals, so why not take advantage of this to avoid any future problems?

This should benefit the state's welfare; after all, each prisoner costs the government a fortune, food, clothing, monitoring, etc. But not even the first minister nor the country's emperor made any statement about this since the construction of the many specialized jails in the country twenty years ago.

Felix was already familiar with this kind of irregular pattern regarding prison-government relations, not surprising for someone victim of it. The villains or thugs with interesting or destructive quirks were worth a fortune, be it monetary or relational. Moreover, contracts with other states could be made, as in Felix's case. Another example is the one of Kendo Rappa, probably the most obvious one. The Japanese government just had to find something that would make the criminals accept their offers in return for their obedience.

Otherwise, he would simply end up in jail.

A lucrative business.

"You seem lost in thought in the middle of our match," said Mr. Brave by moving his shinai towards his opponent's thigh, but his bamboo sword was stopped by the one Felix wielded. "It's one of your habits; it could really backfire you in a fast and deadly fight, where instinct has to play the major role."

"Why do you think I absolutely want to fight against villains? I'm just here to learn self-defense, you know." Felix stated, training at the same time his multi-though processing.

"Well, this isn't what the couple governing this facility thinks. They told me, and this is something I've also observed, that your fighting skills and your musculature aren't those of someone who doesn't enjoy fighting and who tries to stay out of harm's way."

"The couple?" he inquired with a tone almost too intrigued and excited. "I mean, why are they interested in me? I'm just another random dude showing up here to learn something new."

"Ah... I shouldn't say this, but… now that I can talk about this to someone..." Mr. Brave beckoned him to come closer and put his shinai on the ground, now whispering despite being the only people in the small training room. "You know... the husband is Japanese, but the wife is European, she's a libertine. She invited me in the past to one of her 'festivals,' as she calls them... but I had to refuse because I'm a married man and father of a three-year-old treasure…"

"A libertine in Japan. What a sight to behold."

"I had only seen this in movies, like… what the fuck, man. Bunch of fucking women and… maybe four men? All were doing what libertine people do when they have time… That people can be so hedonistic is a bit unsettling."

"Doesn't she wanted to keep this secret? It's a bit ballsy of you to talk to me about it," added Felix, digging the most information as he could get from the friendly hero.

"She didn't clearly ask me to remain silent about it, but her gaze made me more or less understand. Yet since she already seems to have a soft spot for you, I don't think that talking to you about it is a bad thing... it will avoid you being as puzzled as I was."

"Thank you, I guess," Felix smiled by taking back his shinai after checking the clock. "We already trained thirty minutes longer than we should. I'll gonna stop here for today."

"Yeah, seem fair, man."

"Brave."

"Yes?"

"Does the husband know about his wife being a libertine?"

"...No, I don't think he does. I can clearly see that he loves his wife, but loves his job as much as her, so…"

These simple words made him understand the couple's situation that Felix had to destroy, to finally make them suffer individually in one way or another. He wanted to get all the money they promised to him... and not just some stupid paycheck equal to the minimum wage of this country while taking more risks than most people.

Furthermore, to steal this man's wife while showing her hedonistic tendencies to her husband would torture him internally, especially if all this happened to be public thanks to the jungle that is the Internet.

How long would it take for this well-known medic couple to end up on TV? As a Japanese person, the perspective of the parents is critical. How ashamed would they be? And how ashamed would he be of that?

The couple would break up faster than light, and the surgeon might just have another problem if all goes well... after all, he's a villain of sorts too. His wife too, in some way, even if the only thing she does is sending some people to her husband's operating room when her patients require surgery. This is what Mt. Lady and her team knew for the time being...

But what punishment should be given to his wife?

These thoughts wandered in Felix's mind for long minutes while he was changing clothes inside the locker room, unable to know if he should make them suffer as intended or if he couldn't use them for his purposes instead. It would also be to make them suffer, especially the woman, being libertine, to deprive her of her debauched freedom. Even just for a while, this would be like keeping a wild lion in a cage without food.

If he was doing all this for Mt. Lady and gain more money, he hoped to at least take advantage of it to earn something interesting on top of his salary…

—Since this whole operation is organized by the commission, they must now know that I'm part of this mess 'cause of this giant fucking thot... I'd better bring some concrete results to keep them quiet rather than fan the flame of their mistrust.

He said goodbye to Mr. Brave, taking back his things into his bag, his phone lighting up the dark area inside it. A new message had just been sent to his business phone.

—I know today was unusual since I trained all alone, but… four missed calls and three messages…? What's going on now?

After checking his cell phone, he can see who all this virtual heckling was coming from.

A call from Nighteye having left a voice message telling him to call back the next day because he was too busy for various reasons, but that however, the long-awaited attendance between him, All Might, and Felix would take place in a while to discuss a whole bunch of things that the young man wasn't very enthusiastic about... but he couldn't refuse that. Two other calls came from Mt. Lady, who had left neither voice nor typed messages... which strangely suited her supremely friendly and pleasant temperament.

—She could have at least told me when to call her back... This bitch is going to complain again that I call her at inconvenient hours.

Without insisting on it any longer to avoid the urge to slap her around, he looked at the last call and message he received in the late afternoon. He didn't know the number, but the voice message he listened to made him immediately understand who he was dealing with. Chiyo spoke in an almost cheerful voice, happy to tell him the good news, and after accidentally dropping her phone, he could hear her bending over to pick it up and tell him what she was waiting for. UA staff members agreed to interview and test him "soon" to see if the recommendations he received from two senior staff members were worth the effort… She and All Might had talked about him...

If he could thank anyone other than the old heroine, it would be Nighteye.

Felix sighed, realizing that maybe and finally he could do what he wants soon enough; he would just have to wait, train to fight the many potential enemies he had already made, and see what medicine he would like to study after the basics in biology and biochemistry he was still learning with Chiyo.

Once all this is done, the path will be free to find what he still hoped after all these years to be a noble and achievable dream... In addition to enjoying every moment with people he would meet in the future.

He knew very well what his father thought about all this, but would his mother be proud?

Whether he was a nihilist like his father or a hedonist like his mother or the woman he was supposed to punish, he preferred to be a bit hedonistic and bite into the pleasures of life to the fullest rather than become an empty shell thinking that life has no meaning and that everything is useless.

Perhaps he had taken a little too much from his mother's behavior…

"Excuse me, sweetheart, could you just talk with me for a bit?"

After feeling a strange aura, he turned aggressively towards the delicate, manicured hand that had just landed on his shoulder in a purely animal reflex. He took it even before seeing the person entirely and began to move to block her arm.

He had been on edge since he had met that psychopath in the alley... plus, he hadn't seen Rumi since.

Despite the strength he put into his grip, the woman tried to free herself from his hold with a simple and graceful arm movement but realized that the difference in strength would prevent her from getting out of his grasp. She relaxed her arm as Felix let go and smiled warmly at him.1

The voluptuous woman who looked at him with almost sensual emphasis was dressed in a dark blue slit dress as if she had just come out of a party; she was much taller than Felix, maybe 6.3 feet tall without her high heels, something he had seldom seen until now. Compared to all the women he had met in this country so far, she was about a foot taller than them.

Her long slim legs joined her wide but delicate hip, and this continued with her breasts unreasonably plump and held by a white silk bra clearly visible through her dress. When she saw that Felix was analyzing her, she scratched her head, moving her long auburn hair and closed her eyes with a tiny laugh, then put a hand on her hip, almost making Felix believe that out of her mouth would come out these two legendary words: "ARA ARA".

Nevertheless, she didn't add anything and stared back at Felix, analyzing him again, her green irises almost piercing him. He almost felt like he was being pierced... but he didn't felt any pain or discomfort… this was just... strange.

"What beautiful bones you have, sweetheart.~"

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