"...A contract? You’re not trying to scam me, are you? I don’t really get this stuff."
The girl pouted suspiciously.
But her eyes were fixed on the pool of blood, and she was subtly licking her lips.
Was her Quirk side effect turning her into a vampire?
That wasn’t a big problem for me.
I sliced my palm a little deeper and scattered more blood.
"Do you need to drink blood? That’s why you attacked me, isn’t it?"
The wariness vanished from the girl’s face, replaced by a faint blush.
"Yes! I like blood! I like it because it lets me become someone else!"
"Someone else?"
The girl twisted her body bashfully and spoke in a coy voice.
"I like people who look like they’d be wonderful if I turned them into a mess.
I like people whose blood looks delicious and pretty..."
Blood wasn’t essential for survival, then. It sounded more like a fetish or an obsession.
If she was impulsive, maybe this would be enough.
"Here are the terms. I’ll supply you with my blood at all times. On top of that, I’ll give you blood of every type, a place to live, and forged identification."
"In return, you work under me. And if I give you an order, you don’t ask questions. You obey absolutely.
If we can’t reach an agreement, then I’ll have to kill you here without leaving a trace."
To make the threat clear, I called up [Decay] and turned a brick wall to dust.
Even after a murder threat, the girl was grinning.
"Wow! You’re just like me. I also want to kill the boy I like!"
"Though I usually end up following them after I turn them into a bloody mess."
What the hell was she talking about?
I’d seen plenty of lunatics, I was sure of it, but this still made my head spin.
So threats didn’t work on her. Easy and troublesome at the same time.
"I’ve killed a lot of people too! But I still want to live a normal life!
While drinking the blood of the person I like to my heart’s content."
By now, the girl’s questions held more excited curiosity than caution.
Before she could start chattering again, I answered flatly.
"Nothing special."
The girl’s chatter stopped. She blinked up at me with wide eyes.
The smile vanished, and she bit her lip.
"...Killing people isn’t special?"
"Whether you killed one person or a hundred, I don’t care about your past and I’m not interested in it.
I’ve killed hundreds of people myself, so as long as you follow my orders, it’s none of my business."
The girl’s pupils dilated sharply as she trembled.
She knelt, wiped the blood from her nose, and touched both cheeks.
Even the side that hadn’t been slapped turned bright red.
"Ahh......"
The girl’s eyes narrowed into crescents.
Her mouth stretched so wide it looked like it would split to her ears, and the saliva pooled in it dripped onto the floor.
I didn’t even have a cleanliness obsession, and I still found it unsettling.
With the dried blood on her nose, the sight was even stranger.
After a moment, the girl let out a rough, excited breath and spoke.
"You really, really look like it’s nothing special. You’re not lying.
You call me a crazy bitch and say my past doesn’t matter... that’s so romantic!"
The girl smeared the blood on the floor with her palm.
Then she carefully licked the dirty blood mixed with dust from her hand.
"As expected... it’s so delicious... the taste itself isn’t very strong, but the smell of blood is thick and rich."
She kept licking until the blood looked like it would disappear completely, then looked up at me with a smiling glance and stepped close enough that we were almost touching.
"I’m Toga. Toga Himiko! Life is hard, so I hope the world becomes a place worth living in!"
I frowned and took a step back.
"Tenma."
The girl started to say something, then rubbed her face hard against her sleeve.
The sleeve was stained with blood and saliva.
"I want to say things like that when I look pretty and cute!"
"Fine! I’ll make a contract! But I have one condition!"
A condition? I had no idea what this crazy girl was going to say.
"Go on, then."
The girl suddenly hooked her fingers through mine. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
Then she leaned in and whispered sweetly by my ear, full of flirtation.
"Be... my boyfriend..."
I tightened my grip on Toga’s hand and stepped closer.
"Nng..."
Toga let out a soft, expectant moan and closed her eyes.
I raised my palm.
Smack!
My hand landed lightly on Toga’s forehead with a crisp sound.
Toga hurriedly let go of my hand.
She clutched her forehead where the red mark had appeared, squeezed her eyes shut, and whined.
"Agh!! What was that! I was looking forward to it, and you ruined it!!"
"What exactly were you expecting? Don’t get ahead of yourself."
Toga pouted, kicking the floor for no reason, then suddenly clasped her hands behind her back and smiled brightly.
"It can’t be helped. Isn’t this fate?
A boy who comes to me first and keeps offering blood that tastes delicious no matter how much I drink... you’re really the best..."
Toga licked her lips while looking at my school uniform.
"And Tenma-kun, you’re still a middle schooler, right? I think I’d be fine with a younger guy..."
For the first time, I hated the fact that my changed appearance had made me look like some younger boy to this girl.
"Shut up. It’s just a disguise, and I’m not interested in some kid who’s way younger than me. Remember that."
I’d had lovers, a wife, even children in my other lives.
I had no intention of fooling around because some crazy pervert was trying to seduce me.
"Everything’s great, but you’re too serious... and you seem to have too many secrets."
Toga’s expression quickly turned disappointed, like a dog that had just been kicked.
She was impulsive and came running at me the moment she saw me, like a dog with separation anxiety.
Yes, a dog.
I spoke to Toga with less contempt in my voice than before.
"If you do better at following my orders than I expect, I’ll give you a reward."
Toga’s face lit up instantly.
She made a disgusting little laugh and drooled like she was imagining something.
"A reward... what kind of reward? Something more pleasant? Better blood?
Ahh, I’m getting dizzy because I want to do it already..."
As expected. Treating her like a dog was convenient.
And she liked being treated like a dog.
"You’ll have to find out for yourself. Here’s your first reward. Come closer."
Even after seeing that I had pulled out an [Overhaul] clone, Toga was too distracted by the word reward to care much.
"Are you apologizing for hitting me earlier? Okay! Give me lots of rewards!"
The clone’s hand caressed Toga’s face.
Toga made a spoiled little whimper and rubbed against the clone’s hand.
"Not that one. Can’t you do it with your real hand?—"
"[Overhaul]."
I used [Overhaul] on Toga’s face.
"Mmmph!!"
First, her flesh and skin twisted, sealing her mouth shut so she couldn’t even scream.
Unable to make a sound, only muffled noises escaped her as her face slowly transformed.
Once I’d focused enough to finish, I removed my hand.
Toga panted and hurriedly touched her face, then spat out saliva as if she’d swallowed something strange.
"What kind of reward is this! Tenma-kun, your jokes are all terrible!"
Toga turned her head away as if sulking.
Her gaze dropped to a shard of broken glass.
Toga’s reflection showed in the glass.
Her features had changed a little, and her blond hair had become pale purple with a touch of vivid crimson mixed in.
Toga kept tugging at her own face and checking it over.
"I didn’t use any transformation... did you do this, Tenma-kun?"
I put [Overhaul] away and answered indifferently.
"It’s the forged identity I promised. I’ll bring the details later."
Toga twirled a lock of her red hair around her finger like a toy.
"This too... this is cute in its own way! I especially like the red!
Okay. I’ll accept this as a reward!"
Just as I was about to ignore Toga and turn away, my phone rang in my pocket.
Was it Hawks again?
I told Toga to wait a moment and answered.
"What is it—"
[Tenma!! Where are you right now!? Are you at the safe house?]
Hawks’ voice was frantic, shaking so badly he was almost stammering.
He even interrupted me.
"If you want my help, the payment better be ready."
[That’s not important right now! There’s been a mass breakout at Tartarus!]
A mass breakout? If a few strangers died and a few more villains were added to the world, that was just someone else’s problem as far as I was concerned.
Still, I probed a little, keeping in mind the possibility that All For One might try to exploit it.
"Then let the glorious heroes handle it. I’m not a hero, am I?"
[Yeah... that would’ve been true if there weren’t any infected by the ‘singularity.’ This is on a completely different level from what we saw before.]
[Of all times, All Might and Endeavor are both far away, and several Pro Heroes have already been taken out.
Even Public Safety has never seen mutations like this.]
[Most of all... the more they fight, the more... Anyway! I’ll pay you, whatever it takes, so send me your location nearby by message! As fast as you can!]
Click.
The call was cut off unilaterally.
It was rare for Hawks to be that desperate.
It was also rare for Public Safety, the people who had been preparing my ‘hero curriculum,’ to call me in such a panic.
This was definitely a major crisis. For heroes or Public Safety.
For me, it was a huge opportunity. A chance to secure overwhelming results.
"Toga, get ready. It’s time for you to enroll."
"Wow! Tenma-kun, that was a funny joke!"
"I’m not joking."
"Huh?"
————
I waited a little longer in the alley where we were supposed to meet.
About five minutes later, Hawks appeared, his hair a sweaty mess from flying over as fast as he could.
In Hawks’ hands were a cloak that looked like some Halloween costume made of raven feathers and a plague doctor mask.
"Today isn’t April Fools’ Day."
Even while breathing hard, Hawks firmly denied it.
"It’s not like that! Officially, you’re going out as my sidekick. Your hero name is Raven."
So even in a crisis, was this his last shred of pride as a hero, insisting that a hero had to be the one to solve it?
That only gave me one more weakness to hold over him, so it wasn’t a bad thing for me.
"You’d better have the payment ready."
I quickly changed into the costume, already looking forward to what I could squeeze out of him.
Just in case, I also used [Overhaul] to alter my vocal cords and change my voice.
Hawks still hadn’t relaxed, and he spoke stiffly.
"...Let’s move. I’ll go at maximum speed, so you follow with [Strong Wings]."
"Wait."
With [Strong Arms], I grabbed Toga by the collar like luggage.
"Eek. Put me down."
"I’m taking this one too."
In a situation like this, Toga’s Quirk seemed useful. There would be plenty of blood.
Hawks let out a deep sigh and prepared to fly.
"......Just move quickly."
Toga squirmed weakly while being held up.
"You’re flying like this? Can’t you just carry me in your arms?
I think that would be better..."
"No."
I hung Toga from [Strong Arms] and flew at nearly top speed with [Strong Wings].
I covered Toga’s mouth with my other [Strong Arms] hand to stop her screams and complaints about motion sickness.
When I told her she’d get a reward if she behaved, she quieted down.
————
We arrived. The villains had clearly been moving around a lot, because we were some distance from Tartarus.
Across the streets, bodies lay scattered everywhere, torn apart by bites, heroes, civilians, and villains alike.
The stench of blood and the screams spread everywhere, assaulting the senses.
I ordered Toga to hide and collect as much blood from the corpses as she could as quickly as possible.
The villain the heroes were fighting was only one person.
No, one mass.
Blade-sharp teeth had spread out like branches in every direction, grinding up both living and inanimate things without discrimination.
The teeth kept multiplying, forming a forest of razor edges.
"Damn it, that Moon Fish bastard... he’s way bigger than I heard!"
Hawks cried out in shock and flew toward the civilians.
The heroes behind him moved to confront Moonfish.
Mount Lady ripped up a telephone pole and smashed down with it, Shishida Kamui extended his trees to bind the teeth, and Death Dego charged in to break them apart.
For a moment, it looked like the heroes had the advantage.
That was only for a moment.
"Meat... meat... meat."
The teeth grew at terrifying speed.
Just as the giant saw blades were about to close, Shishida Kamui extended more trees.
This time, they weren’t bound by the wood. The teeth split apart, and from within them, another set of mouths and teeth emerged.
The living teeth swarmed the trees like piranhas and shredded them into sawdust in an instant.
The giant saw blades finally clamped shut and bit into Mount Lady’s arm.
Crack.
"Ghh, aaaaahh—!!!"
The horrifying sound of bones shifting and flesh tearing was drowned out by her shriek.
Mount Lady’s arm was severed in one bite.
Blood painted the road red, and she collapsed after smashing into a building, foam spilling from her mouth.
Death Dego unleashed a barrage of blows, but even as the teeth broke, they kept growing back.
At first they cracked, then shrank, and finally they stopped moving altogether with the sound of metal colliding.
The hardened teeth pierced straight through Dego’s forearm.
One minute and thirty seconds.
The moment I returned after hiding Toga away.
The heroes had failed to buy nearly enough time and were wiped out.
"Now I understand why you were making such a fuss."
My curiosity stirred. I wanted to see how far that thing could go.
I spread [Strong Wings] and shot upward. Then I unleashed [Hell Flame], pouring fire down onto the forest of teeth.
The foul smell of burning hair and the choking smoke obscured my vision.
Thud!
Black teeth burst out of the flames and pierced my shoulder.
Even after I blasted [Hell Flame] again, the teeth didn’t burn.
Instead, they wrapped themselves in fire and drove through my body, tearing me apart.
Just as I was about to use [Decay], the teeth split apart like living things.
They moved as if each one had a will of its own, grinding my body like a machine.
Pain ripped through me as flesh tore and bones shattered, but [Super Regeneration] quickly repaired the damage.
The heroes were the same, and so were my attacks.
That bastard’s Quirk was rapidly [adapting] to the battle as it went on.
"[Overhaul]."
I reassembled the teeth in reverse, turning them into a shield and pulling my body back.
I couldn’t give it any more time to adapt. I’d finish this in one shot.
"Don’t come! Don’t come any closer!!!"
A cracked scream rang out.
The voice had changed horribly, but it was still one I knew.
The girl with the long earlobes,
Jiro, was somehow cornered in a dead-end alley.
"That’ll do."
Flying low, I touched the teeth that were about to attack Jiro with [Overhaul]. The teeth instantly transformed into a barricade.
"H-hero...? Eek!"
Without answering, I grabbed Jiro. I could feel her breathing was already wrecked from hyperventilating.
"Stay still."
When I spoke firmly, Jiro clutched my clothes like a lifeline, her nails nearly tearing through the fabric.
I flew straight to Mount Lady, who had collapsed from blood loss.
Using [Overhaul], I roughly stopped the bleeding at the severed arm, then plucked a strand of hair from her head.
I swallowed both hairs and placed the two of them inside the barrier I had made with [Overhaul].
The setup was complete.
"I didn’t think I’d have to use this already."
A white clone like an earphone jack emerged from the earlobe, and a giant clone rose from her back.
"Earphone Jack, Gigantification, [Overhaul]."
I brought [Overhaul]’s hand to both clones.
The clones pulled toward each other like magnets and were sucked upward into the air.
Crack. Crack.
With a grotesque sound, the two forms compressed into one and twisted together.
For a moment, I was a little worried.
Because everyone here, villains, heroes, and civilians alike, could get caught up in it and die.
"Quirk replication: [Overhaul]—Fusion."
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