40: Monday's Midday to Midnight Interview.

Monday's Midday to Midnight Interview.

Cooler than during the last weeks, the wind made Felix shiver because of the formal clothes he was wearing. In the last few days, he paid for a suit that was neither too casual nor too serious, black, so as not to shock Japanese morals, with a white shirt and an apple-green tie, the only extra he permitted for himself, as well as a watch and a bag of work all three of some recognized mark. It had burned some numbers in his bank account, but he would need this stuff in the future to keep his appearance clean and tidy.

Following what Chiyo had asked him, he sacrificed his white hair to return to his natural color; light blond. He had made sure to reduce and regulate the amount of melanin that reached his hair when he was in prison so that he wouldn't be recognized too easily. The root of his hair was already starting to change color, but it would take time before he would be completely blond again. In the subway taking him to Musutafu in Shizuoka district, he didn't go unnoticed. Much taller than the average person, with a stature resembling that of an athlete, and with well-tailored clothes, most people looked at him with either jealousy, curiosity, or admiration. He wasn't that much at ease to be here as a fair animal, but he avoided asking Kaoruko to drive him; he wasn't a kid.

Still in the subway, but almost arrived at his destination, in his pocket, his new phone that he had bought to avoid being tracked too quickly received a dozen notifications in a few seconds before it began to vibrate.

—What the fuck, man… I'm not late, though... I've rarely been this early. Ah. It's just her.

"Hello. It's hard to have you on the phone."

{I've been too occupied working on my babies during the past month thanks to all the money you gave me back then! Not my fault!} answered the cheerful and crazed voice. {That said, I've read your message even if I didn't pick up the phone. I squeezed a bit of time for your project on my schedule, from 10 p.m; to 2 a.m I'm working on it. Thanks to that, my dark circles are even worse than usual, haha! But as my grandfather would say, it's just good old tiredness!}

"...what time do you go to bed...?" Felix asked, massaging his temple, ready to hear an answer that would throw him back.

{Why? Around 3 a.m. and get up at 6 a.m., which is enough to survive for a week until I collapse, and my mother has to put me to bed because I've fainted and can't do anything other than walk ten consecutive steps, pee, shit, eat and drink.}

Felix took the time to formulate a kind reply in the hope of calming the ardor of the teenager he was talking to as he exited the subway to the docks. However, he was kinda feeling like one of the culprits of her bad health, as if what he asked of her was wearing her off even more. She never refused anything concerning crafting her "babies," the first time he called her, she listed what he was looking for and started working on it without listening to what he had to say, and left the voice call active. He was just here, hanging on the phone, hoping she would come back, but she never did, so he sent everything by text message.

"Mei, as a kind of caregiver, I need to tell you that it's seriously unwise at your age to mess up your body like that. You're screwing yourself up."

{I'm repairing shit; you're repairing humans, Mr. Doctor. I'm not scared of that anyway, but I'm sure you can fix me if anything goes wrong.} she responded with a high-pitched tone. {No worries!}

"Sure, sure." he breathed while watching all the people getting out of the subway with him, most of them being either young adults or high school students. "So, what have you done since the last time?"

{Right! I almost set fire to the garage, but I made some exciting discoveries! The thruster I was using for the propulsion hammer is prone to explode if overheated for more than a few seconds! So not good for your propulsion sword; even if you are trained in fencing, you won't be able to dodge the metal shards! Now, the metal I've always used won't be durable enough to cope with the force you want to exert on the blade, so propulsion versus impact energy; the four bullets that would have to be fired from each corner of the cross-guard would exert an opposite force that would weaken it, and the fact that you could heat the blade white-hot to prevent the regeneration of some targets would soften it. In short! I'm going to need more than steel to do this!}

"...Well," the ex-con asked, choosing to put aside all the hazardous stuff she was talking about; if he picked it up every time, he would never get it over with. "Do you have at least one success to talk about?"

{Duh! The grapnels placed on each sword are strong enough to support up to 500 kilos... it's a pain in the ass to weave nylon, so I'll jack up the prices next time.}

"You never waste an opportunity to make more money, eh."

{Stonks.}

Coming out of the subway station, he saw one of the most forested parts of Tokyo outside of the highly residential area and downtown, but only 15 minutes away by subway. Most high-ranking schools and start-ups are located in the area since it is still a pristine area without skyscrapers and concrete, especially as you head north and most of the recently founded companies are actively looking for young people to fill their workforce. If he were to start his own business, it would be here, cheaper, and within reach of people with significant influence, and since he would be in the center of everything, there would be no shortage of customers. Not too far from Osaka, not too far from Yokohama.

This part of the city seems much quieter than the rest, and it is also where the family that houses Camie resides-

{Fortier?}

"Sorry, I was thinking about something… and just call me Felix." he sighed. "So, what metals would you need to achieve what we're looking for?"

{Eheh! Molybdenum, tungsten, stainless steel would be a good start! I have a few bucks to spare, but I won't be able to buy everything. I could sell one of my kidneys to have access to the necessary equipment, though!}

"I'll give you the money. Stop the bullshit now, will you?"

{Just giving matter to thought.}

"Your lack of self-preservation is somewhat scary. Try to avoid putting your body on the butchering table just to have what you want." Felix insisted as he looked toward a large building on the horizon. "What about the net?"

{Done, nothing simpler than this. I need to check the voltage, though. I want to avoid short-circuiting the neighborhood any longer... The voltage could kill a rhinoceros, so I still need to adjust this. It's not ready yet, but it's a work in progress.} Mei dropped her phone on the floor as some rumbling noises came to Felix's hear; metallic sounds. {...Where is the phone?}

—Jesus… We're not from the same planet…

{Here you go! I'm back! I found the prototype of the pheromone bomb! Thanks to the sample you sent to me, I tested it and all.}

"Yeah? I hope you were cautious with the measurements…"

{And it exploded a bit too much; the garage metal curtain is still bent from the blast, by the way. That said! When I came back to my senses, there was a strange mist in the room, and I felt like I was tripping on the same level I do after eating a space cake… and my brow bone was bleeding.}

Spacecake? Huh. Felix didn't care much for it since weed was less dangerous than alcohol and many other drugs, but the Japanese government severely punished drug dealers and users. Wonder where she gets her supplies…

"Mei… In two weeks, you've already almost killed yourself three times, you need to find a place other than a garage for your safety and other people's safety, or you'll blow up the whole city one day."

{I have a doc on my side; nobody has to be scared!}

"I can't resurrect the dead!" he exclaimed with an amused and somehow desperate tone. "Besides, aren't you supposed to have school today? It's Monday, and it's almost noon."

{I'm still down after I busted my eyebrow open. The nurse told my mom that I had a very mild head injury that wasn't serious, but the school and my mom wanted me to stay cooped up at home. So I'm squatting in the garage.}

"I strongly believe you would be safer at school…"

{I don't even know what you're talking about! Ahah!}

"Whatever…" Felix mumbled before looking at his watch, realizing that it was delayed compared to the estimated satellite hour. "Ah… shit… here we go again."

{A problem?}

"No big deal, but I'll have to drop you off. It's time for my regular morning jog."

{I'll leave you to it then; my babies are calling for me.}

"Sure, text me when you'll have something finished that won't kill me on the spot if I use it… and try to stay alive during that."

He stared at his phone screen before scratching his head when he saw that she had already hung up a few seconds ago. He wasn't late yet, but he hoped to get there early.

Sighing, he slipped away into a less crowded street, almost deserted, so that he could use the super-hormones that altered his legs to a lesser extent. He waited until no one was looking at him before leaping onto the roof of a small building; jumping from building to building, he was fast enough that no one could recognize him, but even if people did see him, they would only see a brief image of a businessman moving briskly uptown.

Two weeks alone, he met Kaoruko once and Mt. Lady twice; the first one only gave him some of her super-hormone before dining and ending the night together; the second lady is always a bit more irritating and clever. He managed to negotiate with Mt. Lady for an invitation at the next Hero Billboard Chart JP which gathered "all" the Japanese heroes in exchange for free medication for two months and a medical follow-up to improve her physical capacities and appearance. Since she's still young, only 22 years old, Felix could easily and "quickly" accentuate her curves, make her skin more pristine, make her hair more radiant while strengthening her body, etc.; it didn't take long for her to accept the offer, one must believe that it's not blood that she has in her veins, but money. However, she had warned him that if he used his abilities to manipulate her, his second bank account where all his money lies could be frozen the moment she realized it. A surprising risk-taking coming from her.

—I guess she once again has something up her sleeve. She would never have invited me to a show and grouping such as this one without reason and forethought, mainly since partly because of me... and herself, she's forbidden to participate in this Billboard. She will apparently be present on the premises. Ahah, I can't wait to see the HPSC President's face when she sees me sitting on Mt. Lady's seat.

Now, for what he managed to learn, [Rabbit] turned out to be useful for more things than he expected. Accelerating his heart rate beyond what would be possible for any human was possible and was helpful for stressful and need-to-act-fast situations. On the other hand, luckily, he started to strengthen his veins by recreating their cells through his super-hormones, so he could survive this without controlling the full potential of the quirk; if it weren't the case, his veins would have probably been severed a lot, internal bleeding blooming everywhere inside of him, while his heart would have either exploded or missed a pulse.

His legs also tend to use all the kinetic energy of his body, which sometimes surprises him and makes him jump into a wall with just one step… It was like the quirk fused with him and created a new one inside of him, and because of this, adapting to the quirks, he copied with the hormone was, therefore, like learning to use a brand new quirk the same way a kid learned to use his own. He tried to do the same with the [Bubble] quirk of Kaoruko, but it was a waste of time just as he thought the first time; his skin turned blue quickly and started to itch before blisters appeared where the bubbles formed.

He also managed to understand why he was able to produce pheromones. He doesn't know when, but he has managed to unlock one of those dormant genes, probably something that has been dormant in every human being for thousands of years but that the body now considers useless. Himself messing with his endocrine and paracrine hormones for so long probably ended up activating it. Thanks to this, he isolated some types of pheromones, but even after several tries, it's impossible for him to identify the type he produces correctly, so the effects on Mei were neither what he expected nor what he feared.

As for his system, nothing conclusive, the number of counters increased every day or so as long as he continued to train. His dexterity continued to go up, though, with the 1% bonus, it gave him 60 DEX points. He didn't know how high it could go and what would happen when he reached 1000 points, for example, but he was eager to find out. Also… he hoped to get a new bonus by arriving at the level 20 threshold… but nothing.

[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]

[Level 20 — 40/8000} — ]

[STR :black_small_square: 130]

[DEX :black_small_square: 225 (+1%)]. — [AGI :black_small_square: 100]

[END :black_small_square: 155] — [RES :black_small_square: 120]

[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]

The only clue he had was that his father always wrote down his goals on a piece of paper and made them into "quests." Felix had never seen if it worked, but why not try it in the future, even if he had no idea how to do it. Like…

[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]

[Be hired by UA and their staff.] → [1 random bonus.]

[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]

—Yeah, at least, it sounds cool to me.1

But enough of that, his interview was more interesting than this shit.

At least that's what he believed. He was waiting for this moment since he understood working here was a possibility, all thanks to Recovery Girl. He made a lot of progress with her, and since she was somewhat proud of his work, she was even more pleased to see him come today, even if she was reluctant to say it. It was something easy to see for someone who made his first living by observing and manipulating people.

The ex-con paused a second after hearing his stomach grumble, not enough calories despite the sports session he did this morning. Even if it wasn't planned, he still did it since Oguro worked him to the bone. With Mirko carrying the hero agencies from Nagoya and Kobe, Felix lost his second trainer and now only had one for more than a month, and it was a boxing one… all this because he accepted to work with Mt. Lady. What a mistake and good fortune at the same time. Anyway, the schedule the former vigilante put him through was wild; however, he saw some real progress over the weeks' thanks to it.

Putting this thought aside, he jumped to the ground from the roof of the building just on the edge of the forest. Only a few buses passed by here from time to time, while some rare students headed for the high school several dozen meters away, surrounded by protective walls. Unlike them, he had been asked to go through the back door to avoid disturbing the pupils as they worked, especially since it was just the end of their summer vacation.

"Well, who's that?"

"Huh?" uttered Felix, who had just been snapped out of his musings by a voice he had heard once before. As he turned toward the person, he recognized the young apprentice of Nighteye with plastic bags filled with trinkets, probably for a festival that was coming up. He was accompanied by a dark-haired dude who looked like he could shit his pants any second. "You are…"

"Togata-san, or Mirio if you just want the easy one," he said with a smile that made him look like Tintin. "I thought I'd never hear from you again, but it seems like I was wrong. If you're hanging around, then I suppose you're dealing with people from the school's staff."

"Spot on, but I don't think I'm authorized to talk about it, just like you about our first encounter with the cops." Felix ironized with a movement of his hand. "Who knows, maybe I could train with you and your friends just like you said back then. If the proposal still stands, of course, I'm not forcing anything on you."

"About what I said when we were in the police station, huh. I doubt we could, but it might be fun to kick your ass." Mirio answered jokingly before looking to someone way behind him. "Tamaki, what about walking a bit faster, man? We're going to be late even though we promised we'd show up on time despite being outside."

".......you…"

"Yeah?"

"...y-you know I'm uncomfortable when I'm around people I don't know… I almost want to die right now…"

"Isn't your friend dramatic…" muttered Felix, trying not to scare and deter the guy even more.

"That is what makes him strong; believe me, he could easily become one of the best heroes."

"Oh, really…?" The ex-con asked with a hint of curiosity, looking back at Mirio's friend. "If he's lacking self-esteem and confidence, I believe I could help him with that…"

"You're a life coach or something?"

"Nope, did I look like one?"

"Ahah, to me, every foreigner looks like they could be one," Mirio confessed with a shrug. "I guess my brain is too much japanese'd."

"To be fair, you don't look very Japanese-like, so you could also be a life coach by your own standard."

"Mm, yeah, guess so, that's what people told me when I first arrived here. Looking like a European dude."

They both paused when they arrived in front of the gate that required an access card to enter; since he didn't have one, the barrier would shut in front of him accompanied with a loud thud, so better not try it. They looked at each other for a second before Mirio shrugged again before telling him that he couldn't help him enter. Since Felix wasn't 100% at ease with the situation, he didn't try to make an elaborate response and simply said he wasn't invited to come in by the front door anyway. Mirio smiled at him before wishing him a good day, followed from afar by his friend who was looking intensely at the ground, almost as if surrounded by an aura that would drive to suicide anyone who would come too close.

—Well, strangely enough, these two together throw me off… It's not like me, and I didn't sense that when I first met him.

Not wanting to waste his time, he quickly looked at the sizeable H-shaped building that stood behind the protective barriers. All this had to be shielded by bulletproof windows; they wouldn't put the building so close to the front entrance, right…?

Anyway, he crept along quietly, bracing himself for having to unpack a whole bunch of science blather to impress the jury, and made his way to the broad gate at the back that led directly to the UA's administrative quarters. Different buildings, all being made of cement and concrete linked together by pontoons. It changed from the main building.

He stepped toward the doorbell, but before he could ring it, it opened on its own, clearing the way and revealing the ample parking behind it and the numerous workers back here going back and forth to the lunchroom. After turning off her phone, a woman dressed in a leather outfit with a white body stocking was also standing here with a slight smile. She walked toward him and signaled that he could enter.

Felix recognized her because many guys in heat had a hard-on for her on social media.

"Well, well, don't look at me like this, Mr. Fortier." The heroine started with amusement. "I know you were told that Hound Hog, the counselor, would personally come to bring you to the meeting room, but after consideration, it's better if I am the one doing it, don't you think?"

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