His throat ached.
Every now and then, he could still taste the iron-like taste of his own blood.
Meaning that he still bore the pain of his wounds enough to make him wince occasionally. Manami had stitched him up since, for obvious reasons, using his quirk to fix himself faster would be counterproductive for his end goal, but it also meant that raising his head would pull on the sutures in his neck.
He hated that.
However, slowing his regeneration had to be done, at least briefly. To hide all these scars, the girl he'd kept at home, Himiko, had helped him put on bandages on the condition that she could stay at his place, even if only in hiding.
Felix felt obliged. He wasn't going to kick out someone who'd helped him.
The bandages reached up to his neck, making it hard to hide, but given that it was mid-autumn, he wore roll-necks to try and camouflage his plight.
Covered in stab wounds, even his arms were sore, and it was only much later that he noticed he'd barely dodged the feathers that would have severed his biceps tendons connected to his radius.
Hawks' initial aim was to incapacitate him, and it was only when he realized that Felix was getting the better of him that he decided to take him down—failing again.
However, the victory was far from absolute. He could have died if he didn't make the right decision. In one-on-one combat, although not surprising, the #3 hero, despite being in a particularly unfavorable environment, still managed to gain the upper hand.
He wasn't ready yet. It pained him to admit it, but it was highly likely that all the heroes in the top 20 would get the better of him, except perhaps the heroes with animal mutation quirks.
—I should focus more on my quirk from now on... Focus on relationships, networking... the things I'm good at. I was arrogant enough to believe that I could progress on all fronts simultaneously...
Gazing into the distance as the dry leaves of the trees he was walking on crackled, he felt someone's grip tighten firmly around his hand.
"Do you really have to be aggressive even when showing affection?"
"Ya're a moron."
"Here it comes again..."
"You know, I kind of agree with her." Kaoruko sighed, holding his other hand as people who walked around gazed at them, seeing two women around a single man. "Did you really think we wouldn't notice? Especially us?"
"Forget it, Kaoruko. Like A said, this guy's a fuckin' stupid moron...!" Rumi snarled, striking him on the shoulder without using much energy. "Look at him! He can't even say anythin'! Say somethin', goddamn it!"
"I'm sorry I worried you, but everything's fine now."
"I'm sorry I worried ya, blahblehblah." She grumbled, stomping the floor while pointing her index finger at him. "We leave ya alone for one evening, and it's as if yer apartment has just been bombed, only to find you sliced and diced... I swear..."
Kaoruko chuckled and reached into her pocket for her phone, looking at the message she'd just received.
"It seems we're a little late."
"I had to change my bandages, but I guess I'll have to find another excuse. Like saying that time flies by when I'm fucking both of you, I'm sure they'll understand."
"Oh gosh, please don't embarrass me in front of everyone..."
"You're no fun."
"We can have as much fun as we want if we're between us, but please, nothing like that in front of other people..."
"Hm, I'll think about it." Seeing Kaoruko rolling her eyes and heaving a sigh, shaking her head, he chortled.
Walking silently as they approached the HPSC headquarters, they stopped holding hands as they all seemed buried deep in thought.
The mood was a bit tense and a tad gloomy, too. Even though it wasn't Felix's fault, he knew he had something to do with him, but he could do nothing about it.
Events after Hawks' assault had unfolded fast, and everything had been out of his control. Nothing serious, given that it was only Kaoruko and Rumi, but he didn't know what was in their heads.
"If I find Hawks, I swear I'll fuse his fuckin' chicken head to the sidewalk with a single kick..."
"Come on, keep it quiet."
"Nah, I won't let it slide. I had some respect for the guy, but trying to rape a girl, then raping another one and still not surrendering? Then attacking you in the days following? Nah... it makes my skin crawl..."
"Shut it," Felix muttered, looking at Kaoruko, knowing that Hawks did all this because of her aphrodisiac bubbles mixed with Felix's quirk. "We can't talk about it outside."
"If Rumi's here, it's safer outside than inside," Kaoruko commented, touching her neck after looking at Felix's wound before heaving another sigh, realizing, thanks to Felix's gaze, that she had unknowingly caused the third Japanese hero's downfall. "We wanted to thank your neighbor for helping you, and she told us what had happened, even showing us one of the feathers Hawks had used against you, which she took on the sly before you hid the rest."
"This little runt."
"Don't talk about her like that. She's a kind person."
"It's an affectionate surname."
"Felix..." She sighed, staring him in the eyes. "Why hide the feathers? We can help you; we made that pretty clear, right?"
"Yeah... I suppose I always want to do everything myself."
"You can rely on us. You don't have to go it alone."
"I know, I know." He heaved a sigh. "It's just that old habits die hard," He continued, muttering as he reflected on his past actions. Would it be easier to include both of them in his plans? Even other people? If he can, he would like to do anything not to feel betrayed again. "Sorry, I hope I didn't hurt your feelings by sidelining you like that."
"Ya did... But whateva..."
"Hehe, Rumi is more sentimental than I am, you know."
"Yeah, I can see that!"
Wrapping his arm around Rumi's shoulders, he tried to hug her while ruffling her hair around, to which she responded by biting and insulting him.
"Alright, calm down..."
Cutting the crap, Felix mumbled a complaint as they entered the HQ. This place was more irritating to him than a TV sales show.
After Kaoruko called Nighteye, they were picked up directly by a group of men who guided them through the many different areas leading to their destination. Passing from room to room, Felix caught a glimpse of a young man with tousled indigo hair entering a small meeting room. It was the first time he'd seen someone so young here, so he pondered but couldn't dwell on it for long as they finally arrived at the location to which the three of them were supposed to go.
The place appeared to be a large boardroom emptied of all its chairs and all its equipment replaced by lustrous marble tables and armchairs. Hanging on the wall were draperies showing the flag of the military coalition of the Ring of Fire: Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, New Guinea, and New Zealand. Also simply called the Ring of Fire, a group that had dethroned NATO and BRICS in the past before many African countries founded their own union to counteract them as the rise of quirks triggered a worldwide renewal.
With all these visual clues, Felix knew this was a place where the world's greats could be welcomed.
—How gleaming and petulant.
A parade of pomp and pageantry. That's all it was.
The outside is gorgeous, but the inside makes you cringe. Like lifting a piece of wood and seeing the sowbugs crawling underneath.
Trying to look as calm as possible, he turned towards the numerous people standing and chatting amongst themselves, drinks in hand. As he had been told, a number of heroes in civilian clothes were there to debate with the commission and Felix himself.
It was such strange behavior from the HPSC that Felix didn't know what to think—attacking him, allying with him, manipulating him, attacking him. What the fuck are they thinking? Are they stupid? So many questions.
Standing there, he recognized Endeavor, Ryukyu, Yoroi Musha, Death Arms, Mt. Lady, and Midnight. A tall and strong blond man was also there, standing way in the back, watching over everyone: All Might. What a surprise.
Not many people, but already enough to know it was a kind of grand meeting that could change how things evolved.
Recovery Girl and Nighteye were also there, but closer to the President and her goons. He wasn't worried about them since they both helped him until now, but one never knows what his opponent's next move will be, so he better be on his guard.
"Mr. Tremblay," started the President after seeing him. "How fortunate that you're on time. We've almost waited for you."
"The car had a breakdown."
"Then maybe learn to drive and buy a car."
"With the amount of money you pay me?"
"Well, Mr. Tremblay, I see you're still in good shape, which is perfect."
"Yeah, perfect."
"Alright, everyone, we're already late, so come sit down so we can have this talk."
Clapping her hands, everyone came to their armchair in no time, looking back at both Felix and the President, trying to understand why their words carried such truculence and sarcasm.
However, as they were all already bored of waiting, they didn't ask anything and just lingered for what would come after greeting the three new arrivals.
The President approached a large screen with one of her associates and asked Mirko and Bubble Girl to come forward to demonstrate something. She explained everything about their quirks and for whom they worked, what are their records, and other boring stuff.
"As you all already know, we're all here for a cooperative consensus about us giving you all the possibility of strengthening your body and quirks through Mr. Tremblay's quirk." She explained, remaining as deadpan as ever. "Here are two heroines who are already undergoing Mr. Tremblay's feats... Here are the graphs showing the curves for the number of cases solved, the general capacities of their quirks, and their respective strengths between 4 months ago and today. You can see that the curves tend to rise slowly over time in a logarithmic fashion. As we thought, Mr. Tremblay's quirks can magnify other people's quirks. We're now positive about the power-up one would receive over time if working with him."
"As usual, you like to explain everything in a rough-and-ready way." Recovery Girl scoffed, a bit annoyed by the woman's malarkey. "Thanks for the briefing. You may all know this already, but I am the one who trains this mule-headed rascal." The old lady stated, pointing her cane at Felix. "As the graphs aren't for everyone, I'll explain things in more detail. Simply put, Felix can induce a multiplication of super-cells in someone's body, giving long-term boosts of energy and power if he helps that person frequently. The boost is ephemeral and weak if only done for a short while."
Resting his elbows on the table, Endeavor glanced back at Felix before staring attentively at Recovery Girl.
"Do you know if there's a way to make this boost permanent?"
"Currently, we're working on this topic to see if it's feasible."
"So it's not possible."
"As of right now, at least."
"Is it even possible to boost a transformative quirk like mine?" Ryukyu, the dragon lady, asked Felix directly, seemingly apathetic. "Mirko and Bubble Girl are heroines who don't need to do anything to use their quirks, but my quirk only becomes active when I trigger it. So would it even work?"
"Well, it depends if your true form is your dragon or human form."
"..."
"Since you change size and musculature as you transform, it's likely that your cells transform too. Your transformation must cause a total and forced mutation of every cell of your body, which you can switch back and forth as you wish. I can duplicate these cells in this case, probably increasing your size once transformed. I don't know if we can call it a boost, but given that I'm lacking information on your quirk and medical records, that's the only conclusion I can draw."
"Size alteration it is..."
Putting her hand on her chin, the dragon lady asked herself if it was worth it, raising an eyebrow. Sitting as far as possible from him, Mt. Lady widened her eyes for a second, but she closed her eyelids and shook her head, biting the nail of her thumb.
As for Felix, he wished he could say more to entice them, but the Commission had been careful not to mention his real quirk to avoid other people becoming interested and trying to take advantage of him.
How ironic.
The only person who really knew what his quirk was at 100% was Recovery Girl, but she also had to follow the commission's guidelines. Rumi and Kaoruko, although not knowing what his quirk really was, also knew cell tampering wasn't it but said nothing about it.
The only person ballsy enough to talk about it opened her mouth.
"Cell tampering? Really?" Mt. Lady inquired with a grunt. "What's the catch this time?"
"Mhm. You haven't changed. Little girls should learn to behave."
"What now!?" Seeing that the person saying that to her was Midnight, Mt. Lady gritted her teeth with a glare before clicking her tongue. "Why are you even here?"
"I don't think that's any of your business."
"And what I said before was none of your business. I have the right to doubt someone I don't even know."
"Ahem." Yoroi Musha, the elderly hero, cut them off before shaking his head. "Skepticism is the burden of those who believe in nothing, not even in themselves."
"This is an important meeting, so let's behave like adults." Now, it was Death Arms' turn to intervene. "Mr. Tremblay, may I know what you did to boost Mirko and Bubble Girl?"
"Well, I-"
"Tremblay needs to touch people for this to work." The President explained hastily, cutting Felix off. "The back of the head and your stomach mainly."
"More or less..." Recovery Girl grumbled, shrugging and looking back at Death Arms. "Since your quirk factor is in your arms, he would need to focus mainly on this, not on your head and stomach."
"Make sense."
Their exchanges lasted far too long for Felix to stay awake the whole time, so he fell asleep several times and was awakened by a jab from his tutor's cane.
He had, however, answered all the questions, realizing that, at last, the HPSC had decided to make him do what they wanted him to do in the first place when they used him as a bargaining chip with the Canadian government, i.e., boost heroes. The time it had taken them proved that they still weren't serene about the idea of collaborating with him but that, at this point, the best way to keep an eye on him was to use him.
In other words, it was an avowal of weakness.
Ultimately, everything came together despite all the obstacles in his path. Even though he still had a good distance to cover, the road looked sparser now that he was in contact with other heroes.
The meeting ended after numerous queries from the heroes and the elusive answers provided by the commission's staff. Just as he was about to ask Mirko and Kaoruko if they fancied a drink in town, someone taller than him approached him, glaring.
"Tremblay-san."
"Huh, yeah?" Felix turned back toward the hero, Endeavor, who seemed somewhat on edge. "What is it?"
"I believe most heroes here would like to have a word with you." He addressed, pointing to the other people behind him with a head movement. "Your potential and power appeal to me. I look forward to collaborating with you."
"Thank you. I look forward to it, too. That said, this might be a bit nosy, but could I ask why you'd want to be part of this experiment? I mean... you're already at the top of the hero food chain."
"The hero food chain..." He muttered with a faint chuckle. "Don't get me wrong, I'd like you to prove your skill first before you do any heavy lifting. I'd like you to show your abilities by attending to my sidekicks. From there, I'll see if the game's worth the candle."
"That's fine by me. A deal's a deal."
"Very well," Endeavor chimed as he handshakes Felix. "As the commission supervises the first attendance, they'll handle the paperwork. You'll get the agreed date in a few days. All right, I'm off. I've got work to do."
"No problem, bye."
Seeing the fiery hero step away from the meeting room, he couldn't think about the fact that he also seemed to hate this kind of environment. Other than that, the hero was more cooperative than Felix expected, although he was aware this was probably due to him being a desired asset.
"He's a bit intimidating, isn't he?" Asked Yoroi Musha, stroking his beard. "This silly goose."
"Nah, he's all right. I've dealt with worse."
"Worse? Really? Then you'll be happy to hear I'm much more congenial than he is." The old man assured with a grin. "The only thing I ask for our partnership would be to get all the recognition. Even if you wouldn't get any praise from the public, I would pay you double the price."
"Mm... Money's always a good thing."
"I tend to express what I want upfront, so there's no misunderstanding later. What do you say, youngster?"
"Triple the price or nothing."
"Fine negotiator, are ye?" He chortled, rubbing his hands together. "Let's say double, and if I see some good improvement, triple? Does it sound fair to you?"
"Alright, but I want it stipulated in the contract."
"Perfect, it should be done then. Deal?"
"Deal."
Handshaking another hand, Felix was positive about making the right steps ahead now. From Endeavor, Yoroi Musha to Death Arms, if they could become allies, then what he believed his life to be: a never-ending shit storm, could finally end to rebirth into something new.
Curious about what was happening behind him, he spotted Ryukyu chatting with Rumi in the corner of the room, the bunny girl fleeing her fellow heroine's gaze as she crossed her arms, flustered.
Across the way, staring at him, propped up against a chair, Mt. Lady looked at him. Approaching her, she immediately tensed and straightened up, putting one hand on her hip and tilting her head slightly to the side.
"What do you want?"
"Bitch, what's your problem? You're the one who literally came here. I should be the one asking this question."
"I'd been on the guest list for ages. I had no choice but to come, don't get any ideas, jackass."
"I'm pretty sure you could decline the invitation as long as you gave advance notice. Unless you missed elementary school and can't fucking read."
"Is that the HPSC's dog trying to bark at me?"
"Oh, you, someday..."
"Yeah, keep your muzzle on."
"You cheeky-ass mommy's girl is digging your own grave at breakneck speed."
"You can continue to bark, really. I'm not afraid of leashed dogs, you know."
"I'm a dog, you're a bitch, I can see somewhat of a chemistry here."
"In your dreams."
"You know, it reminds me of the fabulous chemistry you have with Kamui Wood-"
"Shut the fuck up!"
"Look at who's barking now, haha!"
"You're such a despicable human being."
"By the way, how did you explain the whole blackmail thing to him-"
"For fuck sake...!"
Grunting but now speaking quietly to avoid being heard, she moved toward him, frowning as she closed her other fist while the other pointed toward his chest, hitting him with the tip of her index finger's nail.
"You don't speak about that! Here!"
"Hey, hey. Wouldn't you rather tell me if you're here for a partnership like other heroes instead of pointing at me like a tantruming child?"
At last, falling silent, Mt. Lady lowered her gaze, dropping her hand alongside her body. She shot a demure glance at the HPSC's chairwoman, who was peering at them from a distance, then sighed as she meekly pushed him off the way.
"I'd rather jump out of a plane than let you touch me."
"It's a bit extreme," He chortled with a smile. "But alright, until next time with the illegal spy thing you force me in?"
"Shut up!"
"Hahaha!"
Looking back at her as she left the room, walking by stomping the floor, he couldn't stop quietly laughing at her reactions, hiding his face in his hand.
—That's an amazing girl right here.
Looking back at Rumi, Ryukyu's shoulder nudged him as she left. She apologized but explained she wasn't interested in the commission offer but hoped that working with the other heroes would go well. Wishing him good luck.
Looking back at him, next to Rumi was Midnight, the only hero who hadn't talked to him yet. She wore formal clothes that showed her curves; if it was on purpose or not, he didn't know, but she was the perfect woman.
Approaching them, a bit reluctant about what they were talking about, his worries vanished as she smiled when he greeted her.
"Hi again, Mr. Tremblay."
"Just call me Felix."
"Well, if I'm allowed then." She giggled, smiling and checking her watch at the same time. "You came right on time, Felix. We were talking about you."
"Am I that interesting?"
"Interesting, I don't know yet, but an eye candy you sure are."
"Thanks."
"No compliment for me?" She asked with a daring and amused smile. "Rude, I might say."
"Eh, I just don't want to say something inappropriate to someone who might become a collaborator."
"Don't worry about that; I'm not here to get boosted, even if I actually might accept at some point."
"Yeah...? Why are you here then?"
"Oh well, long story short, we needed to watch you from afar to see what you were good at. To scoot you in a way. We learned from you from both Recovery Girl and Nighteye. Now that our scooting of you has started for a while, we thought about actually talking about that to you. You're worth it." She said, turning to Recovery Girl, Nighteye, and All Might. "So, we might have a job for you."