"Ka~"
The door lock clicked open, and the iron gate on the right side creaked open slightly, revealing Kurumi in her casual attire.
Tony stood there, dressed in a suit that should have looked formal but somehow appeared nonchalant.
Her collar was neatly arranged, with a slightly dishevelled white shirt inside, no tie, and a distinct scent of high-end women's perfume.
"This must be 'Little Pepper,' right?" Kyouka thought to herself.
The man at the door shrugged, removed his sunglasses, and adjusted his finely groomed little beard. "What? Don't recognise me anymore?"
A mischievous smile played in her wine-red eyes. "Oh my, I thought they were just annoying flies. I didn't expect the famous Stark to come to my place."
Tony slipped one hand into his pants pocket while the other hand with the sunglasses shook. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"Why not?"
The black iron gate was pulled open, and Tony walked in, stopping in the courtyard and looking back.
Kurumi casually closed the door, seemingly unfazed by anything.
A pleasant fragrance filled the air, different from regular perfumes, at least in Tony's opinion.
Unable to find a suitable topic, Tony glanced around and said, "The decoration here is nice. Did you do it yourself?"
"No, it came with the mansion, standardised and mass-produced. All the mansions of the same model look like this."
"Oh, so the designer did a good job."
Kurumi glanced at him, shrugged her shoulders, and touched her chin as if searching her memory. "I heard it was a student who just graduated from college, and the design inspiration..." She trailed off as if trying to recall. "I heard that they found the design plans online."
Tony felt a bit awkward; he didn't understand these things. Although he had studied architecture, interior design was not his strong suit. He preferred things with more "artistry," like the creations he made.
As Tony tried to find the right words, Kurumi surveyed her surroundings. "Since everyone around here is wealthy, no one wants their mansion to look like everyone else's, so they spent a lot of money on customisation. My place is no exception."
"Looks like you have a good eye."
"Let's talk inside."
...
Tony looked at the bottled water in front of him silently for a long time.
"Sorry, this is all I have."
The girl didn't seem to mind and took a sip from the cup.
"I... want to talk to you."
Kurumi blinked. "I've been here all along, Mr. Stark."
Tony furrowed his brows. "I want to talk to the 'unscientific' girl."
Her wine-red eyes suddenly changed, and her whole demeanour became slightly mischievous.
Seeing this, even Tony couldn't help but smirk.
"Do you still remember that... iron suit?" Tony gestured at his body, trying to describe his "maiden" suit.
"Oh?" Kurumi showed some interest, but she didn't move to sit on the couch.
"You mean that ugly and practically useless turtle shell?"
Tony could swear that if he were dealing with anyone else, even Stane, he would give them a piece of his mind!
But when he thought about the incredible abilities the girl had shown that day, Tony calmed down.
"Yeah, it's admittedly a bit ugly. I won't deny that; it doesn't fit my image."
"So you stayed at home and redesigned it?"
"Oh! You're quite clever."
Her cherry lips curled slightly as she spoke. "Is this how you seduce women? Middle-aged man?"
"Middle-aged man?" Tony was genuinely surprised, pointing at himself. "You're calling me a middle-aged man?"
"Isn't that what you are?"
Tony raised an eyebrow and wrinkled his forehead. "Well, you're not wrong. So, where were we?"
The girl settled back into the couch. "Your iron suit."
"Oh, right, my iron suit," Tony repeated.
He stood up, pushed everything on the coffee table aside, and took out a projection device, a spherical object, from his pocket.
After some tinkering, the coffee table was entirely occupied by virtual images. Various data filled the space, and Kurumi found herself overwhelmed. She had never encountered such technology in Quirks; it seemed that tech geniuses like Tony Stark were rare in that field.
"So, the experiment hasn't succeeded yet?"
Tony's embarrassment flashed briefly across his face, but he quickly hid it, pressing two fingers together. "There have been some minor setbacks, but they're just minor setbacks. If I want to, it won't be long before it succeeds." Tony said excitedly.
However, when he expected to see the girl's shocked expression, he didn't anticipate that she would merely pout and look like she had just woken up.
Her eyes refocused on the coffee table, where all sorts of parts and design language filled the space. Kurumi's head began to ache slightly, and she couldn't help but think that the tech side of things was quite different from what she was used to in her world.
"Since things have come to this, why did you come to me?"
Tony was about to speak, but Kurumi waved her hand, and a silver light shot over from a distance.
"Is this... a teacup?"
"It's an experimental tool for when I'm bored."
"Does it have any special functions?"
"It can instantly heat up to boiling water and freeze to ice water instantly. As you can see, it can also levitate, but it's all rather gimmicky."