39: Why is She Always Lying...?

Why is She Always Lying...?

"The fuck are you…" Felix muttered, unconsciously changing from a composed tone to a somewhat more anxious one.

"Oh, no, no. It's unnecessary to be agitated; everything's fine, Mr. Fortier; I can tell you that since it's only a few individuals close to me who know this! Every little secret is held in a little jar inside my head; you can trust me, this jar won't spill out." she vainly reassured him without taking a second to breathe. "Truly!"

The ex-convict gazed at her a second time, eyes alert and eyebrows slightly furrowed. He knew that when he had difficulty swallowing his saliva, it was because he was out of ideas to appear convincing, which left him only with the choice of using his quirk, however, even if his powers was attacking people on the microscopic scale, leaving them completely unaware, people who are wise and clever enough —like Mt. Lady— can guess what caused them to act in a way they're not prone to despite the chemical still messing with their brain, and for a woman to be this young and already this high in the hierarchy was a proof that the reporter got more than one trick up her sleeve… or maybe she went under the desk, who knows… If he wants it to be completely sneaky, he'll have to work hard to mess with the metabolism and brain of people.

That is, if he could avoid people with a much higher I.Q., than the average or too observant to know about his powers, it would greatly help him. It's not like they can comprehend it in a short period, but in the long term, rare ones can put the pieces together. He's not fond of lies, but one always needs a bit of them, especially to do what he wants to do.

Except that she's a prominent reporter, Felix didn't know much about her. In fact, if he remembers the news, she's the most respected woman in the print media industry and also has a grasp on the current T.V. info relayed since she's the person with the most paparazzi, private investigators, and resources made available to her. Felix wasn't 100% sure about this, but from what she was talking about on T.V., and how she was being promoted and appreciated, her popularity rating was probably much higher than that of the average American president, allowing her to go way too much off the rails on T.V. without receiving death threats.

Immunity by virtue of the majority's appreciation is a blessing not a lot of people are bestowed with. That said, whether she has dealings with the government or not to have this much mediatic power and money, she's the kind of person Felix would call a mole.

After a short, silent sigh to calm himself and ease up, he looked up at her, knowing that lying wouldn't do much good. Just before he did what he was thinking of doing, he turned his head towards the living room to see if Toga was still there, but there was no trace of her, not even her clothes still folded on the sofa.

Felix grabbed Curious by the arm and pulled her inside by force; her invisible bodyguard tried to intervene, but she signaled that everything was alright, accompanied by a smile, and moved inside the apartment with Felix. Upon seeing no one would interfere and checking if the bodyguard wouldn't come in while he couldn't notice, the ex-con slammed the door as fast as he could without making too much noise, his hand still around the woman's wrist.

"Oh my, last time a man was this ferocious-"

"No, shut up and sit on the sofa… please," Felix commanded, still using a minimum of civility. "I don't want to hear some ironic sweet talk after what you told me."

"What a way to talk to a Lady," she uttered with a teasing tone, simultaneously advancing toward the couch before sitting. "If I were a coquettish little girl, I would be hurt."

"You don't look like one anyway," he replied half-jokingly. "How the fuck did you get my address?"

"I've got your address by tracking you."

"Are you another freak? Why can't I have a few moments to breathe and enjoy my life, man…" he muttered, exasperated. "Every fucking time… It's starting to get on my nerves. What do you want?"

"Mhm, every reporter and journalist is pretty much a freak in their own way, but gladly I'm not the corrupted kinda freak that acts with the government or other despicable organizations; lucky you, Mr. Fortier."

"...How much do you know?"

"Not much, to be completely honest. The only thing I know is that you served a prison sentence, but considering the number of years most politicians should serve, I don't begrudge you that. Except that, the info concerning you is non-existent, that's why I tracked you since you went to the police station with that old woman, by the way, that was nice of you to help her," she explained as she clapped her hand, a big, seductive smile on her face. "I just waited for the right moment to contact you since you seem to lead a very chaotic life. I didn't go digging into every little detail of your life; firstly, because you have no history in this country, you just appeared from one day to the next. Secondly, I prefer to learn juicy information on the fly because I don't like to be spoiled. Investigations and tailing are good but boring, you see."

"Are every Japanese woman some chatterbox?"

"Say that to the herbivorous males around here; you can pretty much understand why women have to do all the talking most of the time." the reporter stated while shrugging. "It's one of the reasons Japan's birthrate is what it is."

"Yeah, I saw what the issue is with these guys, but that's not the topic."

"Mhm."

"You're asking something out of me with nothing in return. Or maybe do you have another subject you want to talk about before using some kinda sledgehammer argument."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Didn't your original question be about me knowing about you and All Might?" she teased him with an amused glare. "If you really don't want an explanation, I can talk about something else and tell you what I can give you as an appreciation token. I wouldn't let a young, handsome man alone and helpless after helping me-"

"Cut it out. You wouldn't be there if it didn't mean business. I'm not dumb; you're a mole, a wolf in this industry, so get to the point."

"Very well." she smiled after a few seconds of silence. "I am not fond of being interviewed, but it seems like you need answers, so I might as well tell you what you want to know."

"Under which conditions?"

The reporter let out a quiet sigh, averting her gaze and putting every piece of equipment she had on her on the coffee table after deactivating them. She turns off her phone and puts her jacket on the table so that Felix can look at it. From the sleeveless blouse she wore, she had no fear of what Felix could do to her, proving that she had no idea what Felix was capable of doing with his quirk. Chitose stretched her arms upwards, facing a somewhat incredulous Felix, looking at the microphones and mini-camera she had on her.

At least, like him, she took her job seriously. However, he didn't really understand the risk of being completely disconnected from her allies. If it was to gain his trust, it was risky, especially since Felix now knew that trusting someone in Japan other than the allies he made on his own was a bad idea.

After a few more seconds of Felix staring at her, she smiled warmly without saying a word and placed one of her legs over the other, waiting for him to speak.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for people who are willing to give me a hand or even be my ally to sink the corrupted."

"The corrupted?" he asked with annoyance. "You look like one corrupted gal if you want my opinion."

"Politicians, bankers, heroes, celebrities, etc. I'm sure you are aware of this, it's not only in Japan, but when institutions exist for too long, they create ulcers by people who believe they can do whatever they want because they're the deans or the descendants of a will. For centuries, this has been going on; the Notsofre*masons are the perfect example. I think as a foreigner; this example is one you know well, especially since they're still active in almost all western countries despite what happened."

"You're talking about a dangerous topic," he whispered with a look of worry. "It's a slippery subject; you know how they take care of people that appear problematic…"

"Yeah, they end up committing « suicide » on people, I know. Strange disappearances of whistleblowers and loudmouths having the guts to talk freely suddenly change their behavior overnight. The good stuff. That said, you don't need to worry about these guys here. A decade ago, they got expelled from the country by the yakuza. I think you understand what I mean by "expelled.""

"It seems impossible. They have always withstood everything, the passing of time, revolution…"

"So this is blocking you from going full-on?"

"Who knows, but why do you care?"

Felix doesn't like to think about it, but right here, in front of him, he had a gossip professional, a presswoman. She knew how to resurface scars that everyone would like to keep deep inside. Till now, this fear and worry was the reason why he listened to orders and stayed underground, hidden, at least until he had all the cards in his hands…

These guys worked with his father; this governmental sect worked with him the justice system, explaining why politicians, lawyers, the rich, and aristocrats are punished less severely than ordinary people. He knew that they tried to break him to keep his mouth shut, trying not to kill him since he was the son of one of their friends and transform him into an example. After all, he got sent to one of the worst prisons in Canada and probably commanded the jailer to make prisoners fight to delete the "annoying people" while making money. And because of their failure at breaking him or poisoning him thanks to his quirk, they were the reason he got sent to Japan, and the Japanese government knew it too and worked with them willingly. They even put him in Tartarus for no good reason just to see how he would cope with being isolated even more than before.

So even if they might have been expelled from the country, they still have authority there. He wasn't fooled that easily.

—They track me, that's for sure. They know I'm going to open my trap at some point; they're looking for an opportunity, like always, I don't have much time.

That was his state of mind since he arrived in Japan. A constant state of frenzy, while trying to be as relaxed and collected as he could be… Because of all this shit, he actually forced his body to be awfully sensitive when asleep to avoid something happening to me during the last five years. Jail made him completely paranoid, even if now he was healing from this invisible wound. The "corrupted" and Notsofree manage to have left an indelible mark on him.

He hoped to do worse to them.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Mr. Fortier. Everything alright?"

"Just thinking about changing this stupid world by means not supported by the Geneva Convention," he muttered as he looked back at her. "We'll assume that I trust you on that. Destroying the "corrupted" is something I advocate; power doesn't rhyme with decadence, lack of self-control, and cowardice; I would love to make them remember this. However, I'm waiting for you to tell me more."

"...In short, I am part of a large group of people who desire to change Japan into a free nation where people are allowed to use their quirks as they wish," she explained as she gave him a book with a red cover. "Our ideology. It's a reedition, so it's easily readable even for foreigners with not a complete understanding of Japanese."

Taking the book into his hand, he read the back cover. In contrast to her opinion, in order to learn Japanese, he had to read tons of books, including hermetic texts, so he had no problem understanding that this book, too, had a different reading comprehension level. An autobiography called "Meta Liberation War," a book with political ideals contrary to Japanese and Western norms. Chitose Kizuki probably expected him to read it; although he wasn't happy about it, he was willing to sacrifice some of his time if he could learn more. He opened the book and flipped the pages between his fingers before closing it back up.

"Sounds like a cult." Felix provoked, hoping for a different reaction than her irritating smile.

"Please don't call us a "cult." We don't force anyone to join us, and we don't charge anyone. Only those who are interested join us, and they're free to go whenever they want. The same goes for you."

"So your ideal is a world with no regulations?"

"We're not looking for anarchy. Regulations are needed to keep a society above the water, but people, ALL people, would be free to use their quirk for their own purpose without being judged, blamed, and criticized for. We look for equality where there is none." She paused, looking at Felix, who sighed silently. "Maybe you have something to say about our point of view? Don't hesitate, even if you're not completely OK with our point of view, tell me."

"The quest for equality is a myth. Nobody is equal; if there is a truth in this world, this is the one. The best society can do is equity, and even this concept sometimes seems too hard for most even to understand its true meaning. If you look for a healthy society, searching for equality will bring even more gullible individuals to hate anything that doesn't equal their own desires and wishes. This is the best way to create a society of complainers and endless demanders. These people can never be satisfied or reasoned. The same problem would only rebirth again but be even more exacerbated because of the jealousy between the so-called equal people who see inequalities everywhere."

Smiling broadly, Chitose scratched her head before giggling for a second. She tilted her head forward to let her hair down before raising her head and pushing her hair back with one of her hands.

"That's your western experience talking, I guess."

"Reading books and observing the world also help to understand why most people are idiots."

"You include yourself in the "idiot" category?" she asked with the clear intent to test him.

"Everyone is the idiot of someone else."

"Yes or no?"

"No."

"That doesn't make sense."1

"That was intended as a joke, but yeah, I'm dumb to some extent; either way, you wouldn't be here, able to track me down like some game animal." Felix ranted, cracking his knuckles, making Chitose look down at his hand. "No worry, though. I will find a solution soon enough about people licking my ass as you do."

"...You don't appear as the dumb type, though." the reporter assured, trying to hide the urge to retort with malice. "Anyway, this was just a proposition; none of my colleagues know about you, only the guy on the other side of the door and me. I originally wanted to meet you because I knew the Utsushimi family was keeping you in their house, but I got my hands on other info, and my curiosity did the rest, so no need to be so caustic, I mean, I know that not many people like intrusive journalists, but that's business as usual! I think you are smart enough to understand."

"Now that you talk about that, it's maybe even more important than you know that I met All Might," Felix admitted with a thoughtful voice, raising his irises directly toward her eyes. If she knew about Camie's family, it was probably thanks to this invisible dude working with her, no reason for her to lie about what she told before since she wanted to have Felix's trust. Luckily, before talking with All Might, they all verified if no one was there before talking about serious stuff, so the reporter didn't know about what Felix and the others did and said. The paparazzi only saw the instant they met before they closed the door. "The Utsushimi family issues went under the radar of all media thanks to the police covering up for their unfortunate daughter who was nothing more than a victim. The only one who showed their name and even the face of their daughter was Shoowaysha Publishing, your newspaper company. Now I'm sure of it; you shouldn't have this information, it's something classified that only a bunch of people know about, not more than five people, me being part of them, even men like Nighteye who was here to help don't know anything about this to keep the identity of the victim's secret."

"Obtaining stuff from police officers when you give them something in return isn't hard to accomplish," she responded with the same tone and expression.

"I guess so, but you wouldn't take the risk of tarnishing your reputation, especially if it requires you and your acolytes to corrupt some policeman. If you want to fool someone, you have chosen the wrong person, Miss Kizuki."

"I'm not fooling anyone, Mr. Fortier. I'm here to talk about both a proposition that might interest you and to have an interview of you as the prisoner of the Utsushimi family, nothing more."

"Bitch, why are you lying…" he whispered in his mother language after a sigh before putting his hand on his face. "In that case, how did you know my identity when you first saw me when I was with this old lady? You recognized me in no time, even if no other reporters knew about my existence since the government kept my identity secret. Here is some information you didn't have. Happy?"

"...we spied on you, that's how-"

"Oh, shut up, no one was around during the raid of their house, it was 3 a.m and Hawks, who was there too, was flying above to feel any vibration in the street and prevent people from coming, and spoiler: he felt nothing," Felix explained with a frown. "Listen, I'm tired of listening to others and being the lackey of God knows who. I'm not here to tell you to fuck off even if you seem to really think I'm dumb as fuck, but I'll give you an interview when I want, not the other way around; I'm not your toy only good to be used for your ploy. I'll do this when you're gonna prove that you're good for something other than pissing me off."

His monologue made the journalist's eyes widen, and she didn't expect him to jump on the bandwagon. However, since he now knew that he could have allies easily and who would seek to recruit him later, he knew that he was now in a position to coax them both to get what he wanted. Even if it were a request for peaceful collaboration, a radical group like theirs would find a way to turn him into a tool, and he didn't want that... To each their path, he wanted his own, not the one traced by someone else.

"I'm aware you're the third Lady now, Lady Curious if I remember well. It's the only way you can have all this information, all this money, all this prosperity. The third Lady that never a single person saw because it would be too dangerous for her to show her face. Here she is, in front of me."

"...Well! Haha! That's wild! Who would have thought I would have found a gem like this one! You really must join my side, my dear! It would be a shame to waste it elsewhere!" Curious laughed with a tear of joy in the corner of her eye.

"Weirdo."

"Whatever you say. It's just like my intuition rewards me from believing in myself once again! I feel great!" she said with a wicked smile. "So, what are you gonna do now? Um?"

"Kick you out after you give me your private phone number."

"Isn't that rude, Mr. Fortier?" Curious asked with an amused expression.

"I gave you more than a few minutes of my time, so no, it's not. I have a lot of things to do in the coming weeks, and I would like to focus on myself, and what's important to me before contacting you back, so we might both have progressed on what we have to do. After all, you have a lot of work right now since you have two domains to manage. The chair left vacant by Victoria must be taken by someone."

"Lady Bee also wants to take care of it, and she has some good backup," she said after giving him her phone number written on a piece of paper and tidying up all the stuff she had put on the table. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Mr. Fortier."

"I'm not against the idea; just show me that I can trust you, and I'll do the same."

"Very well then," Chitose said with a relieved expression. "It didn't unveil as I wanted, but at least, the other and myself will be now sure that you're one of the best assets even without even knowing your quirk yet."

"Sure…"

Felix ended the conversation here, irritated by yet another person trying to trick him, but since these people were not working for the government, quite the contrary, he could afford to take more risks. Until he was completely free of the people who had manipulated him until then, getting his head out of the water too quickly would be to throw himself into the lion's den.

Fortunately, he could finally see the end of the line thanks to his efforts and all the allies he had.

If he counted them all, right now, Rumi and Kaoruko were among the people who would be the most loyal to him; even if he wanted to make more people willing to be this loyal, he needed to be close to them for quite a "long" period. Since then, he didn't have the chance to be close to anyone during the last weeks, but it'll undoubtedly change as time goes on. That said, he allowed him to boost them but didn't know how their progress went, so he planned to give them some time to be with them and see how it goes, and why not help them even more with boosting or awakening their quirks. He didn't forget his second goal; he just didn't have the time or the state of mind to do it for a while.

Mt. Lady as the first hero he met, was a wild one, she wasn't really what one can see as an ally or a friend, but she had to cooperate with him even if reluctantly because of her cowardice during the Utsushimi incident, it was an order of the police and Detective Tsukauchi. She had to fulfill some of Felix's requests as long as they stayed in a professional framework. Plus, she asked him if he could work for "her" thanks to his knowledge of medicine and his quirk… lucky her, during the past week, Chiyo—Recovery Girl—tried to teach him chiropractic with another well-known physician. It seems like U.A. needs one with knowledge, and since he has more than the basic knowledge about muscle, bones, etc., and that he can learn faster than any average person, it was the perfect opportunity for him to have this on his curriculum vitae.

Camie and Toga were free spirits; it was hard to imagine what they would do in the future or how their situation would progress since he didn't see them a lot or even did anything remotely significant with them. However, his deeds towards them seemed to have touched them in one way or another. He couldn't track Toga to talk with her; just like him, she was fleeing everything that could be a nuisance to her or go against her happiness; he could only wait for her to be more mature. That said, he was looking forward to paying a visit to the Bakugou family to see how Camie was doing.

Recovery Girl, All Might, and Nighteye saw in him a great ally, as well as Tsukauchi. The ex-convict didn't know what they were thinking, but at least they were legit with him, and Recovery Girl was one of the greatest help he even had.

Hawks, Rappa, and Ganma were buddies, although a bit strange.

And for Mirio that he met a single time, he didn't know what to think. The dude proposed joining his training on Saturday with the people he called the Big 3. He never responded positively to him, but he was interested in looking into it, of course for his training, but also to steal some super-hormones.

—Well, it's all looking good-

"Mr. Fortier, I will say goodbye then. I am leaving empty-handed for the first time in my life, but I am willing to make this sacrifice if it allows us to have you in our ranks." Curious mentioned as she seemed to tremble with frustration at her lack of success. "Call me when you want to talk."

"That's what's planned," he answered by holding out his hand for her to shake. "See you later. You too, invisible man." He said by punching the air amicably till he touched his shoulder, sending hormones inside his body.

After one last word, he closed the door as the first cars began to roll down the street, and she disappeared under the invisibility cloak of her bodyguard. As they began to walk down the stairs and into the car, his hearing, honed by Rumi's super-hormones, allowed him to hear the words through the half-open window, "You sure about letting him go like this?", "It's not like I have a choice, but it doesn't mean I lost. He can't keep up for long; we're not alone."

—Arrogant little asshole… Be sure that I will make you my bitch… When it happens, I will make you crave for it, but never give you the treat… God! Her smile is so fucking annoying…

As the car drove away, Felix looked at his schedule and sighed. Toga was gone; he had nothing more to do for HPSC, nothing more to do for Mt. Lady; he was free.

He had to finish investigating his system and push his power to mix with it to create combos that would be hard to resist... but at this point, he had a lot of choices for what he wanted to do in the future and the next days and weeks.

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