Jugram quickly grabbed the mop and got back to cleaning the floor. Sweat trickled down his back, and his heart pounded excitedly. While he was nervous to have executed his plan for the first time, he was much more excited that it had worked. A smile naturally bloomed on his face as he continued to mop.
In just 12 hours, I'll have at least one brand-new quirk, hopefully two.
He hummed contentedly while moping, making no move to approach his second target for the time being. In fact, he waited two more hours to even approach the room he was eyeing. There was no use to abandon his carefully cultivated patience at the last moment. He had waited literal years for these opportunities. There was no way he would blow it now.
So Jugram waited and waited until he glanced around once more and found a nurse at the far end of the hallway. He gave a friendly wave as he leaned his mop against the wall and made a show of taking a small break. The nurse gave a wave back, then returned to looking at the charts in her hands before entering the room.
On average, nurses take 12 minutes to go through all the checks on patients before they move to the next room. I'll need to be mopping again by the time she exits, Jugram thought, taking a few rushed steps forward to a door.
- - - - -
Name: Emi Tanaka
Age: 91
Level of Care Needed: Moderate+
Quirk: Aura
Description: Creates a small 'field' around the user that provides defense, boosted physical abilities, and slightly increased healing capabilities to the user. The physical power granted isn't immense, but it can catch people off guard.
- - - - -
Scanning the door as he walked in, Jugram decided to play this one more carefully. Not because he was concerned about the old woman's quirk or her higher 'threat level'. No, she simply had a better memory than the other patients in this wing of the care facility. He couldn't trick her as easily or rely on her confusion to help him.
"Ahh, hello, Jugram. How nice of you to drop by," The old woman said from her couch.
"Hello, Mrs. Tanaka," Jugram said, observing the woman.
While she was older than the previous man, Mr. Noboru, she looked much younger. Despite being over 90, she didn't look it at all. At most, Jugram would have guessed her age to be in the late 60s or early 70s if the sign wasn't on the door. Despite the deterioration starting to take hold, her mind was still reasonably sharp.
"What brings you here today? I'm afraid I have no refreshments or candies to share with you." she said with a warm smile.
"You're too kind," Jugram said with an 'embarrassed' laugh. "Do I need a motive other than talking to you? You're one of the most coherent people in here. It makes for enjoyable conversation."
The woman's face stiffened momentarily as he stressed the words 'in here' ever so slightly. Her jaw worked silently for a moment, and the full weight of her years seemed to show in her body language for a split second. She didn't look so young at that moment, but a small field of energy flicked into view, and everything returned to normal before the energy faded.
If she isn't as mentally unstable or confused as the other patients, I will have to throw her off myself. Jugram thought, projecting an oblivious smile on the outside.
"...My... I have been here for a while, haven't I?" she asked.
"I'm sorry." Jugram began, "I didn't mean to offend-"
"No, you did nothing wrong. It's just a stark reminder of...everything," she said, cutting him off.
Jugram moved and sat on the couch across from her, mindful of the time he had spent in this room. He would need to pick up the pace if he wanted to be out of there before the nurse finished her inspection and saw him missing from the hallway. While that wasn't necessarily bad, it could have led to undue attention being paid to Mrs. Tanaka, which could have led to my exposure if everything didn't go right.
"What did you do before coming here?" Jugram asked, switching the subject, but she still looked distant.
"I wanted to be a hero when I was younger, but I ended up as a Vet," she said with a small chuckle.
"Quite a departure from what you planned," Jugram said with a chuckle.
"Yeah," she responded, "Life just goes off the rails sometimes."
"Speaking of hero work through," Jugram said, pulling the paper out and getting her attention. "This is something to log my community service hours, but I'll need your signature. I'm doing this since it's my dream to be a hero and help everyone as much as possible. It's one of the reasons I volunteer here."
"I hope you're not like that annoying girl," the old woman said, "I can hear her voice echoing down the hallway sometimes. She seems to put on a mask with us old folk but lets it go when she thinks we can't hear."
Takeyama, He thought with an eye roll.
"I know her, but I wouldn't call us close," Jugram assured, then made a show of looking over his shoulder.
Noticing his gesture, the old woman asked, "What is it?"
"I just don't know if I'm supposed to be on break now, so I'm a bit nervous. This is my first job, so I want to do well and have a good record at work." Jugram said.
"I totally understand." Mrs. Tanaka said, taking the pen, "I'll stop rambling and sign it,"
"I appreciate it. There's more information on the back if you want to read some of the finer details." Jugram said, but the old woman snorted and signed.
"It's fine," she said, ushering Jugram out of the room. "I don't want you getting in trouble on my account."
"Thank you," Jugram said with a bow, tucking the papers away.
As he left the room and picked up the mop, the nurse at the far end of the hall emerged from her room and glanced over at him, nodding before she moved into the next room in the line. All the while, Jugram's heart beat wildly. He made it in time, but he wasn't done yet. There was more to this specific contract since she was so lucid.
It included the usual quirk, quirk storage, and quirk experience combo, except with an extra clause. The new clause dictated that the memory of the whole interaction would be included in the deal, so she would end up forgetting the interaction. He implemented This extra precaution in this specific case since it would be easy to blame her mental determination if anyone had witnessed his quick visit and asked her about it.
The fact that she suddenly wouldn't be able to access her quirk tomorrow would be noted down as rare. Still, they would just suspect that the mental deterioration had started to accelerate since it wasn't too rare for patients with dementia to forget about or how to activate their quirk. Her case would be odd but nothing too suspicious.
x-X-x
Jugram finished out his day without any drama. After nearly five hours of work, the staff all but kicked him out, citing that he wasn't even getting paid to work and that he had better things to do with his time. He made a show of arguing back so their impression of him would increase, but he folded quickly after a few minutes and made his way home.
When he arrived, Torino was waiting for him, arms crossed.
"Have fun volunteering today, Jugram?" Torino asked.
"It was better than usual," Jugram said, knowing where this was going.
"Ahh, yes. Better than average." Torino agreed, "I'm just wondering when you were going to tell me you are volunteering at a care facility."
"Old people need help too, you kn-" Jugram began but was cut off.
"No need to be a smartass. We both know why you are there." Torino said.
"Yes, so I can obtain quirks that won't be missed. None of them are being used, and they are better off in my hands," Jugram said seriously.
Gran Torino sighed, rubbing his race, "Did you at least cover your tracks?"
"Of course, I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention," Jugram said.
"Good, because I have no wish to remind you whose attention you might grab if your quirk comes to light," Torino said seriously.
Despite the old man being a hero, he was the most utilitarian character in the series. He was the first to suggest outright killing Shigiraki instead of capturing him. Jugram knew that the old man would understand his reasoning for collecting more quirks.
"That's why I need more quirks. You know better than most the evil that exists in the world. I need to protect myself, Yuto, and you from any unforeseen circumstances." Jugram said.
"I'm not old enough that I need a teenager protecting me yet," Tornio snorted, "When do you receive the quirk or quirks?"
"I got two today that will come in overnight. I plan to lay low for a while and try to get more people to sign with the condition that I get their quirks when they die. I'll wait a month or so before outright taking any more quirks." Jugram said.
"That's a good plan. Stick to it." Torino said, "Tomorrow we'll see exactly how useful those quirks are."