"Dragon Girl! Let me use you to make amazing babies!"
I blink at the sight of Mei Hatsume waiting at the entrance to my Lair after returning with Himiko. I figured that it wouldn't do for the newest addition of my Hoard to be arrested immediately after I'd taken ownership of her, which is why I'd been planning to keep her in my Lair for a few days at a minimum before dropping her off in a different city.
Although that doesn't leave an explanation of what the inventor girl is doing outside of her territory and standing in mine. I can obviously tell that it's not a malicious intrusion due to the wide smile and happy wave she's giving me as I land and lower Himiko to the ground, but I don't recall ever telling her where my Lair actually is. Especially considering that it was only just completed. I haven't even gotten to claim it yet!
Why's Himiko looking at me weird and wiggling her body?
"Ooh, I didn't realize you were into girls, Izumi~. And you can make them pregnant too? Do I have to be worried about carrying dragon babies~?"
I stare at her uncomprehendingly. "I have absolutely no idea about anything you just said."
She stops squirming and looks at me with her head tilted. "Eh?" She blinks a few times before her eyebrows furrow. "Wait, which parts did you not get?"
I frown. "All of it? I don't really get what you meant by 'into girls', don't know how I would get you pregnant, and I don't have kids. Why would you need to be worried about carrying any?"
Her mouth drops open as she stares at me, so I look at Hatsume for an explanation but she's looking at me with confusion too. Did I say something weird?
"Um, Izumi… How old are you?"
I tilt my head at Himiko's random question. I mean, isn't it obvious that Hatsume and I are the same age? "I turned twelve a few weeks ago."
"Bullshit." The vampiric girl immediately rejects my answer with a deadpan face and a wave of her hand. But why!? I'm obviously twelve! I've been really careful to keep count since it's so easy for me to lose track of time without anything that would constitute a schedule!
I cross my arms under my chest and huff out a puff of fire. "Then how old do you think I am?"
She rolls her eyes. "You're clearly around fourteen or fifteen like I am. I don't know how you would have ever thought you could pass as a twelve year old."
"But I am!" I shout and throw my arms up in the air from frustration. Like, I know I'm big for my age, but two or three years? Now she's the one spewing bullshit! "I Awakened at nine, spent a year watching over Giran, then spent another year lounging around while I waited for DAB to make me my Lair!"
"You're not even doing your math correctly! That would make you eleven!"
"I turned ten a week after I met Giran! DAB contacted me at eleven, and I met Hatsume six months after that!" I gesture to the pink haired girl in question, who gives Himiko a cheerful wave and a manic grin.
"Mei Hatsume, future CEO and top inventor of Hatsume Industries! Patent obtained!"
Himiko stares at her, clearly not believing her either. "Aren't you a little young to have a patent?"
Hatsume's grin somehow manages to grow a little wider, as well as taking on a hint of smugness. "Why yes, yes I am."
Himiko stares at her for a moment before switching her attention back to me, causing me to shrug. "She'd claimed an area, and I asked DAB to make it official. Since nobody else cared too much about it, they did so. Though…" I turn my gaze to Hatsume and raise an eyebrow. "I don't know why you're here, or how you got here."
She snorts. "Obviously I'm here to make babies! And I found a half wrecked car buried in the piles of materials." She rubs her hands together gleefully. "With people not bothering me anymore, I managed to fix it up enough to get me here!" She abruptly tilts her head to the side, resembling a curious bird quite a bit. "Well, mostly. It blew up back on the road, and I ended up rolling down the cliff so I had to walk the rest of the way here."
She waves off the near death experience casually. "But that just means I need to make the next version fireproof! And figure out why it exploded! I'm pretty sure all the wires were in the right places…"
She starts muttering to herself about what might have gone wrong, how she could fix it, and what modifications she plans to add to the next model. Honestly, it's pretty interesting to listen to someone else deep dive into their interests. I have no idea what the other kids were talking about when I went to school, this isn't creepy at all! And it's super easy to understand!
Himiko looks at me and sighs. "Ok, I'm lost. So I'm just going to ignore…" She waves her hand at Hatsume. "That, and ask what the plan is."
I smile at her and clap my hands, which unfortunately snaps Hatsume out of her muttering and causes her to look around with a vaguely confused look before recognition returns to her eyes. It really feels like I'm looking at an inventing version of me. You know, a lesser version who didn't have the great fortune to be a dragon.
"Well, since heroes and police will be searching for you, you'll spend however long it takes for them to move on to something else hiding here!"
She nods in agreement. "Ok, that makes sense." She tilts her head curiously before pointing at Hatsume. "But… what about her?"
I shrug dismissively as I turn to finally lead my possession and my guest into my Lair. "Mmm."
I hear her sigh before she starts to follow me, accompanied by Hatsume's shout of "Wait for me!"
Since I have a guest, I lead them to the dining room first and tell them to wait while I grab them some food. Sure, Himiko drank her parents' blood and I ate a few limbs, but she needs something solid and I'm always interested in eating more. That's not even bringing up the fact that I have no idea how long Hatsume has been waiting…
There's just one, itsy bitsy problem.
I have no idea how to cook.
Normally I use my flames to cook people, and sure, sometimes I season them or slather them in barbeque sauce, but that doesn't mean it's safe for other people to eat! Speaking of people; I'm noticing a distinct lack of food in my freezer that isn't people. I know that Himiko's quirk protects her from the danger of drinking a person's blood, but does it also apply to directly eating them? Hatsume probably doesn't have a way, even if Himiko somehow does though…
I sigh in relief when I get to the very back and see a whole cow hanging from a hook in the back. "That's good. It would have been embarrassing not being able to feed my guests. I'll have to call DAB and get them to bring some long lasting stuff." I let my mind wander to how exactly I'll be cooking the food after I break off a leg and head to the kitchen. Really though, there's not really anything to think about, is there? All I can do is roast it with my fire.
Not long after that I'm putting three plates of cow meat on the table in front of the two girls, along with a tall glass of water each. If Himiko wants some blood with her meal, I can see what I can do, but all the bodies are frozen so I don't hold out much hope. And I'm certainly not granting her the honor of my blood. Maybe Hatsume will let her have some of hers if she asks nicely…?
"Dig in!" I tell the two as I grab the hunk of meat in front of me and take a big bite out of it. I chew happily, even though it's not as good as people. Meat is meat, and meat is glorious. I remember hearing something before about a type of people called 'vegetarians' that say eating meat is cruel, so they only eat plants. I wonder what they would taste like? They clearly turned into idiots due to a lack of meat, but maybe it makes different parts of them taste better? Grass raised, or something like that?
Whatever. I'll see if I ever meet one. Meat one. Heh.
"Hmm?" I'm halfway through my meal when I realize the girls aren't eating, and are in fact having some kind of silent staring contest. "What's wrong? I promise that it's probably all cooked correctly. And it's tasty!"
Himiko seems to lose the contest, since Hatsume does a fist pump. She sighs and turns to me. "Um, utensils?"
I stare at her blankly for a moment as I process her words. My brows furrow as I think harder. Then like whenever someone is being an annoyance, but in reverse, realization hits me. I slap a greasy palm to my face and groan. "I can't believe I forgot that people use those things!"
I grumble to myself as I get up and head back to the kitchen, digging through drawers and cabinets until I eventually find forks and knives. I bring them back a set each and watch them to make sure there's nothing else I'm forgetting. It seems fine since they do start eating this time, and judging by their faces it tastes good! I'm green, so their faces turning green means that they think it's good too, right?
But they must not really be hungry since they push their plates away after only two bites. I shrug it off though and slide their plates over to mine. More for me!
After I polish off the three plates, it's time to get down to business.
I clear my throat and fold my hands over each while peering at Hatsume. "So, Hatsume. How exactly did you know you could find me here?"
She practically beams at me. "There was a news report on your fight with All Might! They mentioned which city it was in before it randomly cut off and all the footage vanished from the internet, so I sent a drone there and had it follow you! Since I put a tracking device on it, I followed it here!"
I tilt my head curiously. "I don't remember anything resembling a drone…"
Himiko gives me a judgmentally deadpan stare. "You were constantly staring at the safe you were carrying. You nearly dropped me three times!"
I ignore the sudden burst of random noise that means absolutely nothing. "Very strange…" I shrug, pushing it aside. "Oh well. That covers how you got here, but why are you here?"
"I told you," she says, pointing at me, "I want you to help me make amazing babies! Your scales should make for great material!"
I raise an eyebrow at her. "Ok, but why should I grace you with my scales? We're simply acquaintances." Don't mention the lab you had DAB make because you hoped she'd become your friend. Don't mention the lab you had DAB make because you hoped she'd become your friend.
Luckily my mouth remains shut while she thinks about her answer. She goes into a mutter session that I choose not to listen to, since it would be rude when she's trying to think about what she'd be using to qualify for my benevolence. Because it would be benevolence. I wouldn't simply sell my scales. Nor my claws, blood, fangs, saliva, etc. They're a part of me! Anything that comes directly from me is far too valuable to be exchanged for simple goods. I require something worth much, much more. Though, perhaps…
"You could always offer yourself." Himiko's sudden suggestion knocks both me and Hatsume out of our respective thoughts, and we turn to her. Seeing our curiosity, she continues while placing one hand on her chest. "Izumi, I offered myself to you in exchange for my freedom, so shouldn't it be fine for Hatsume to use your scales as long as she belongs to you?"
I rest my chin in the palm of my hand while I think, which allows Hatsume the opportunity to talk with Himiko. But is there really something to consider? Hatsume joining my Hoard would qualify her to utilize my shed scales. It hasn't exactly been a common occurrence, but there are times where they fall off seemingly at random. I haven't been able to identify any sort of pattern to it, but I would assume that I either outgrew them or they were replaced with stronger scales. The same goes for my fangs, though that has only happened a total of four times.
Anyways, I've lacked any way to utilize them, yet have been unwilling to leave them where they fell, which has led to me having a decently sized pile of scales. If Hatsume becomes a part of my Hoard… and agrees not to allow those outside of it to come into possession of whatever she makes…
I nod at the same time the girls do, and I look at them when they look at me. Hatsume's eyes are practically shining and she's actually vibrating in her seat. "I'd be more than happy for you to own me! Just make sure you let me have everything I need to make my babies!"
I can't help but chuckle at her exuberance, sending Himiko a wry smile. "This is a far cry from how you've come to join me, hasn't it?"
She giggles behind the side of her hand. "Don't go trying to make it sound all cool like it happened a long time ago. It was literally today."
I snort out a laugh, turning back to Hatsume. "Very well, I'll accept your addition to my Hoard." I hold up a clawed finger to stop her from throwing herself at me, and judging by her half-stopped position I was just in time. "However, you cannot allow those not of my Hoard to use what you make."
She frowns and chews her lip, looking thoughtful. "I… suppose I can deal with that. But then how am I supposed to know who can use them? From what I can tell it's just me and the other nudist."
"Hey!" Himiko shouts indignantly. "I'm not a nudist!"
Wow, Hatsume is good at judgemental stares. She lets her eyes trail up and down Himiko's body, and the pupil itself seems to move independently. Kind of contracting and expanding. Some kind of sight enhancement quirk, then.
"The two of you are both literally naked, and haven't bothered to even mention putting on clothes. Not that I mind," she waves her hand dismissively as Himiko looks down at herself with a surprised expression. "I don't really care if you wear clothes or not as long as my babies can get some exercise. Which brings me back to my earlier point."
She looks at me. "Do you have a mark or something that I can use to make sure only the people you own use my babies?"
A shiver trails down my spine at the notion of marking my property. Not an uncomfortable one, no. It's a shiver of excitement.
A mark. Something to show that they belong to me. Yes… Yes. A wide smile stretches across my face as I stare at them, and I see my newest possessions shiver in response.
It seems that they are as excited as I am.