27 Food For Thought.

—Wh-what's that noise...? That's... my phone!

Emerging from the bed in a rush, leaning towards his phone on the bedside table, he saw the name of a woman he'd almost forgotten: Utsushimi.

So she was calling now, after all.

However, just as he was about to pick up, his gaze settled on a pink-haired girl wearing high-precision goggles analyzing his dick with numerous instruments.

"...Mei? What the fuck are you doing?"

Seeing that she was far too focused to hear him, he returned to the phone call. This wasn't his first time being sexual while chatting with someone, so he didn't give too much thought to it.

"Hi, Mrs. Utsushimi. Happy to hear about you again."

{Hello, hello.~♪ Sorry for the delay, Mr. Tremblay, I thought I would have more time this week for myself, but it turned out that I had a colossal amount of work to do.~}

"It's quite alright, don't worry for so little. I had quite a busy week, too." He answered after drinking some water from the bottle next to his bed while Mei wanked him up, visibly trying to activate the "ejaculation button" while taking notes. "How are you doing?"

Wanting to indulge in small talk for a while to lower the woman's guard, he asked random questions about her life and family, also trying to find valuable information. Still, she was guarded enough not to let slip anything.

Meanwhile, Mei seemed to look after his precum, scrutinizing it with fervent devotion. She put her index on his tip and pulled everything to her tongue… Despite the bizarre act, it was sexy in a strange way. She kept it in her mouth for a while before gulping it and going back to work, looking at a tutorial on her phone named [Handjobbing your partner when you're a beginner.]

{So!~ For our dinner, I'd like to suggest next Friday, how does that sound?~}

"Sounds good to me. Would you like me to buy you a bottle of wine, like the one we drank at the gala evening last time? It looked like you liked it."

{Fufu.~ Aren't you a delectable one?~♪}

"I take that as a "yes, absolutely, I loved that wine," then. Haha."

{I'd never say no to a ten-year-old Bordeaux.~ It would be almost sacrilegious to—}

A voice echoed in the background, cutting off Daphne's speech, but not her husband's gravelly voice, that of a young woman with a voice even more bubbly than her mother's.

Naturally, for Felix, this would just be one more trump card up his sleeve if he managed to do what he thought about, but it complexified his task. He had to corrupt the family in some fashion to give the heroes what they expected while pulling a pro-gamer move, providing him with valuable allies.

At the same time, Mei's lips moistened his cock's tip as she imitated what she saw on her phone, opening her mouth and doing what she could to at least swallow the first few centimeters. He had no idea what pushed her to do that, especially now that all the aphrodisiac dissipated, but she was pretty focused on this sole purpose.

"Are you still here?"

{Yes, sorry, my daughter can be a bit noisy and intrusive, but she's a good girl.~ I'm quite proud of h-}

"Ah…"

{Camie, please, I'll help you make the dinner when I finish my call.}

"So, next Friday, 7 p.m. Would that be good for you?"

{Very much.~♪ Now, I've been hearing noise for a while. Could I ask you what these sounds are in the background?}

"Ah. Someone is sucking me off."

{...Hahaha! Haha!}

Next to her everyday "fufu" giggle, this one laughter was heartfelt. She was laughing her head off. Felix was surprised by the sheer amount of joy going out by this single outburst of hilarity. It's not something most people manage to do. This was the laugh of someone with a good heart, so much so that he smiled as he heard her laugh like that. Could someone like her really be part of the Underground Maskerade?

Knowing how it would end between them, he felt a little sad, a tinge of culpability gnawing at him.

Both sadly and joyfully, it has to be done for his own good. He wouldn't be the one to take the blows alone like in the past; enough of that. He knew she would most likely love it, but this feeling of emptiness sometimes overcame him, thinking about the WHAT IF of his life…

He was still human despite it all.

Snapping him out of his torpor, Mei sucked as hard as she could on his cock while trying to take more of his length into her mouth, gagging.

{Oooh.~ She's going at it, isn't it?~♫}

"Eh… Pretty much."

{Very well then, thanks for the laugh, fufu.~ I'll leave you to your sperm vacuum. See you next Friday, Mr. Tremblay.~}

"Until next time…"

{And don't forget the wine!~}

Hanging up the phone, he sighed, realizing what he just admitted on the phone to a married woman with a kid. That was definitely ballsy, maybe a little reckless, yet, he felt provoking events to come his way faster would be the key to success.

Not that he wanted to jump the gun, but more so that risk had to be taken if he desired to understand the people around him and devise a few tricks to win them over.

Mrs. Utsushimi could laugh it off despite presumably believing in what he said. Not everyone would have reacted like that. That said, now, he just had to wait and see if, after learning about that, she would be protective of her daughter when he was around. It was like tickling a dragon's tail, but whatever.

"Hmnn…~"

Mei moaning made him turn back to her, who was doing her best to yank the semen out of his cock.

Now wide awake, he could see that it was getting dark outside, but more importantly, judging by the drool smeared on his shaft, she must have been at it for a while; she started this when he was still asleep.

—Already taking the initiative, huh?~

Eager to cum once and for all since he had stuff to do, especially considering the late hour, he took the peerless inventor's head from behind and shoved her lips and throat down on his cock, making her gag, wrinkling her eyes hard.

However, to his surprise, she submitted to his manhandling and accepted his shaft like a good whore. She abandoned herself to this treatment for what she believed was the better good. She had a plan now! She was full of ideation! And all this wasn't so bad, too.

On his side, Felix wasn't gonna release her until he cummed, but fortunately for him, he was looking for a quick one, so he pushed her head toward his very base as Mei struggled to breathe, tearing up, while her head did the same ups and downs her hips made the day before. Then, one last time her head bucked toward him, her mouth stuck to his crotch.

Erupting inside her mouth, on her tongue, felt greater than he thought. He gushed the rest of his seeds from the day prior into her throat till the last drop, so it wasn't enough to overflow her mouth. Mei opened her eyes again and spat out some of his cum before gulping the rest with voracity, looking quite satisfied by her deed, a large, gratified smile on her face.

"FI-" A sudden coughing fit stopped her in her tracks. "...FINALLY!"

"Huh…? What do you mean…?"

"Thanks for the help, Mr. Tremblay. I'll return to you soon! HAHAHA! GRANDILOQUENT! YES!"

—What the fuck is wrong with this girl…? I haven't fried her brain… right?

Sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his forehead in his palm, he looked at his phone and checked the other few notifications, he got two from Rumi, but she left no message. Typical of her. Do stuff. Give no information. Don't care to explain. Then insult you. Refuse to elaborate. Insult you again. Leaves.

Kaoruko also left a worrisome message telling him to be careful and stay at home as the streets were in turmoil due to a grassroots movement caused by a well-known hero, and since she was going to have to dig her heels in with Nighteye to maintain order throughout the day, she won't be there for a while.

Sighing at the other messages on his work phone from the HPSC about the mission, he put it down on his bed and stood up. It was already 8 p.m., which meant Mei had been here for more than 24 hours, and since he had no idea when her parents would come back home, it was a risky bet for her to remain here. Better see what she was doing.

A draught flowed from the corridor into his bedroom, odd given that Kaoruko told him she'd closed everything before leaving for work. The smell of overheated electronics wafted through the apartment, along with the sound of a wielding blowtorch.

The living room was in an even worse state than the day before. The sofa had been tipped backward and damaged, the TV had fallen off the stand and was a bit cracked, the floor showed clear signs of scorching, proving to him that he was lucky to be alive without any burn wounds, and the double-glazed windows seemingly burst out into the outside corridor.

—What the hell...?

Mei was hard at work, focused on the jet hammer she worked on. The tool looked more sturdy than before but was also a bit bigger. He could tell from the steam escaping it that this thing was different from most of the stuff she showed him until now.

"Mei, you hear me?"

"Huh!?"

"I see you've done a great job."

"Always! Never a job half done! This beautiful baby hammer is undergoing a phoenix-like rebirth! I'm not done yet! There's never a finished job! There are always things to add, improve, transform, modify, patch up, embellish, refine, and improve, and transform! Yes!"

"So, what did you change from the original design?"

"Wood and iron are replaced by carbon fiber and titanium! I added a kinetic energy accumulator so that when you hit something with it, it'll store kinetic power! THEN KAPOW! BOOM! The accumulator throws the kinetic energy stored inside it back in the same direction! Here, let me show you!!"

She smashed the hammer hard on her workbench without using the rocket engine. A split second later, it turned red-hot, giving off a lot of heat, almost exploding to escape her hand, and hurtled toward the ground faster than anyone's eyes could follow.

The tool slammed into the ground, shattering chunks of concrete and smoking like a charred roast chicken just out of the oven. The impact generated a deflagration that knocked them both to the floor and made their eardrums ring. Apparent cracks appeared on the walls and floor soon after the hammer stopped releasing steam.

"KAPOW!! BOOM!! Just as I said!! ...But I still need to make some adjustments, I feel."

"...that was sick."

"By the way, sorry for the breakage! I... huh... made a slight miscalculation earlier! Yes! I hope you have good insurance!"

"Nah, it's alright."

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Tremblay."

"Did you at least eat something during the day?"

"Mortal needs are unbeknown to me when I make super cute babies."

"Talking about babies, it's a bit weird asking that, but why did you take some of my cum earlier?"

"Your cum...?"

"My seed."

"...?"

"My male reproductive cells. My gametes. Spermatia."

"Ah!" She exclaimed, suddenly understanding what he was saying. "It's quite obvious! I wanted to put them in the refrigerator to keep them on hand!!"

"You what...?"

"Yes! The lab refrigerator in here!" She pointed at her steampunk workbench. "Marvelous!"

"Why, though?"

"Just! Imagine! The possibilities! Possible with sperm! From an objectively superior male specimen! YES! If only I could isolate the best sperm from each of your most massive ejaculations, finding them once my eyes are sharp enough to zoom in that much; I could set them aside and keep them to fertilize the best of women's eggs, creating super cute babies! Isn't this a great idea for making some EXTRA PLUS ULTRA creation!? YES! YES! I CAN FEEL THE CREATIVE ENERGY YOU'VE INFUSED INTO ME WITH YOUR PHALLUS!"

Her monologue left him speechless. Truth be told, she was still the same, so he needn't have worried if he'd broken her or not, but the gateway to pleasure was now open to her, and she didn't seem the type to want it closed.

On the other hand, he was pretty happy to hear what she had just said, given it reached close to his actual goal.

"I must say that's a noble objective. Experiment as much as you want with my cum." He scoffed, having trouble believing Mei was even real. "This is something else, oh man."

"Of course, an inventor always works ethically! So I'll be my own guinea pig, just as ever!!"

Her happy expression froze while she walked to take back to hammer from the ground. She seemed genuinely overjoyed by all of this, so he went into the kitchen to prepare food for both of them.

—Right, the fridge's broken... And how can stuff spoil so fast...? I know that when Rumi's here, she forgets to close the fridge, but still-

A high-pitched sound stopped him dead in his trach. Hearing his distorted bell ring at this hour made him uneasy since almost no one came here to visit him except the bubble and rabbit hero, just as the HPSC asked him to.

Aware that the broken windows were visible from the outside, he smiled, a little embarrassed, and opened the door.

"You! Don't you feel like you're making too much noise!? Every day!? What was that big noise a minute ago?!"

"Huh?"

"I'm here!"

Lowering his eyes to navel height, a petite woman with long magenta hair cascading down her back and pink eyes with dark circles stared fiercely at him, fists clenched.

"You're short."

"So what of it!?"

"Nothing, I'm just stating the obvious."

"Whatever! I know it's none of my business, but if you have sex, try to be a little discreet! I need some silence!"

"Ah... Sorry about that. Didn't think anyone would hear us."

"How can I not hear you?! Your room is right above mine!"

"Alright, I understand. I'd be more careful; no need to get worked up."

"That's easy for you to say!"

"That's true," Felix replied with a sorry smile, stretching out his hand to shake hers. "What's your name?"

"...Manami."

"Mine's Felix. Say, if I pay you for access to your fridge and cook a whole course meal for you... and I and her, do I make it up to you?"

"W-Why are you asking me that?"

"My fridge died, and I have nothing left to eat. My life's a mess right now."

"...not just your life..." she muttered, looking at his windows and flat. "What happened in here...?"

The little woman's curiosity had prevailed. Entering this no-man's-land was too tempting for someone curious, especially given the sheer devastation of the living room, accompanied by the mechanical noises coming from the workbench.

She didn't want to eat at her place, firstly because she was ashamed of it and secondly, because she felt more comfortable with another woman in the room. That said, the other "woman," even when they all started eating, didn't stop working on the hammer while a telescopic arm fed her.

Turning on the TV out of habit, Manami glanced at it, which was still tilted on its side; the screen cracked, and the audio sizzled a little as the reporters spoke. Most of the furniture seemed on its last legs, but she didn't want to give it any thought as she realized it wasn't Felix's fault but the other people who came to his flat.

"You're a great cook."

"Even if I don't come across as a guy who likes to cook, is that what you think? Haha."

"Yes..."

"No big deal, it's not the first time I've been told that."

"Hmph, they're talking about him again..." Manami muttered, grumbling at the TV. "Send him to jail, and voilà."

"Something happened?"

"Just listen, you'll understand."

Given her straightforwardness, she obviously hoped not to talk about it, so he looked at the TV in turn. It looked like a flash special that had just kicked off, so he increased the volume, which made the sound sizzle even more. A reporter with lilac-colored hair, light-blue skin, and turquoise eyes with black sclera was broadly smiling as if she was ecstatic to be reporting the day's events.

{—Chitose Kizuki reporting, and yes, Mr. Yuka, what is being said appears to be true. Hawks, hero #3, allegedly attempted to rape two girls, a 20-year-old and the other, a teen who was a fan and who approached him asking for an autograph. During the night, he dragged them with his feather to an isolated area and did his deed. The latter reportedly filed a police report at once, traumatized by the act. Hawks was said to have pinned them against a wall, stabbing his feathers into the wall and pinning them down using their clothes. One of them managed to escape with her quirk capable of incapacitating someone if my intel were good, she did this with spores, but the other girl wasn't so lucky.}

"Why would he do that, that stupid idiot...?"

"It's heroic. You just don't get it."

Manami's sardonic answer made him scoff; she seemed pretty fed up with most stuff happening out there. He was the same during his last year before going to jail, almost all his time in his room looking at his computer and seeing only the bad and the theories, brooding over what his former best friend had put him through, at least, when he wasn't working on boosting people and create some kinda drugs.

{However, the police and the heroes chasing him after he fled have yet to find him. Unless he decides to surrender, the hunt looks challenging, given his speed, which just about rivals that of All Might. Some netizens are even urging the #1 hero to intervene to keep the top 3 an inspiration for the country, but he, like most heroes, has yet to communicate about the actions of their colleague. An embarrassment that can be felt all the way to the state elite, considering how they have promoted their so-called prodigy.}

"You think this is a setup?"

"Nah, I checked it out myself."

"What do you mean you checked it out?"

"I got my ways."

"Fine, keep your secrets."

"Say... as a man who gets his way with women, surely you can understand him, can't you?"

"I know a trick question when I hear one."

"So you're avoiding the question?"

"I'm dodging it. Not the same."

"Then that answers my question."

"If it's any consolation, I've never assaulted a woman to end up in her panty. I don't need that."

"Then how?"

"I got my ways."

"Fine, keep your secrets."

"...This conversation is moronic."

"Yes, it is."

Before they could continue their idiotic chatter, they heard footsteps rushing to the door due to the broken windows, then the doorbell rang repeatedly, the caller smashing the button again and again after trying to open the door.

"Who could that be now...?"

"Were you expecting someone?"

"No, I wasn't."

On his guard, he opened the door, but what he saw on the other side was nothing too threatening. Mirko stood there, dressed in navy blue skinny jeans and a black crop top that showed off her abs and wore an unfastened white blazer. Unlike the other times, she'd made a real effort to dress appropriately to impress.

"Felix! Felix! Is everythin' hunky dory?!" She asked, looking over his whole body to see if he had been beaten by something, her long fluffy ears pulled backward. "Have ya noticed anything amiss since yesterday?!"

"Hello, you look good in these, but please calm down-"

"Let me in, quick! Please, scoot ova..."

"Alright, I understand this is very important. What's the matter?"

"Kaoruko came to me before I came to see ya and gave me this." She showed him a large red feather, far larger than her palm and even a bit sharp. "Blue-skin found it close to one of the windows this morning, and since she explained what ya both did yesterday and saw through the window..."

"This is one of the birdy hero feathers," Manami interjected as she finished her meal, but Rumi ignored her.

"Really now..."

Comprehending why the little rabbit was worried, Felix frowned.

From what he'd heard when he'd just arrived in Japan and been thrown into Tartarus, Hawks worked for the Commission, and given the current situation, he'd had to come here yesterday to see why any hidden microphones had stopped working as requested by his superior.

In the end, it had backfired.

He probably inhaled a massive puff of concentrated aphrodisiacs and pheromones when they opened all the windows, so he would have fled immediately. If the winged hero hadn't surrendered, it was no doubt by command of his superiors, too.

At this point, getting rid of Felix would be one of their most important concerns, and seemingly, neither Kaoruko nor Rumi was okay with that. It put a smile on his face.

Gradually overlooking her worries now that she knew Felix was alright and that she could protect him if necessary, Rumi stepped into the apartment before landing her eyes on two women she'd never seen before. Then, her eyes landed on the sorry state of the living room.

Frowning, her eyes squinted, hands on her hips, she turned her head to him and clicked her tongue.

"Geez... Don't look at me like that. I can explain."