LoamyCoffee: When I saw double update, I was ecstatic!
I hate that they wouldn't confirm his suspicions about the necklace. But it is what it is.
I'm just glad that some of MON returned, though it gets me every time.
I'm firmly in favor that pretty boy's sister will get her own body eventually.
But favorite part was Tio and Gible showing Tetsu-Yon what for! Cause I love seeing how a Pokemon handles itself against people in this world of Quirks, Magic, and Whatever else otherworldly things exists!
Tetsu-Yon is indeed a Himbo and I can certainly imagine that he's done things like that to test his Quirk.
Re: Well, Takei isn't completely oblivious to social cues like most Isekai and/or Harem Protagonists, though part of the issue is, he's still an American Reincarnate, so there's definitely bound to be some things about Japanese society he might not be immediately privy to. Let alone the social cues for a modern-day Atlantis in "Neptunia".
And there's the old saying about assumptions; "they make an ass out of U and ME."
Theboblinator: Huh, shocking. Takei actually managed to get home without issue… XD
Pft. Even 200 Years in the future, PETA is STILL a joke. XD
…Considering how much Shigi's interacting with Takei, I have to wonder what AFO thinks about it… The dude fully went along with Shigi trying to recruit Bakugo when he barely knew him, so having Shigi constantly in contact with a "Hero Hopeful" likely has a bit of his attention.
Surprise Tio Attack! XD
…I have no idea what the "Curry of Life" is from… (Or maybe I do, and I've just forgotten.) XD
…Dang it Tio… XD
Aaand, Golden Week is over. Welp, back to your regularly scheduled "Takei's Villain of the Week"… Even if we won't see all of them. Still, it opens the door for "Noodle Incidents" if you're jumping through the months instead. XD
Loved the chapter, and I look forwards to the next one!
Re: Well, it is possible for people in Hero-tangential families to go about their days without constant Villain-related nonsense; otherwise, Endeavor's kids would've had way more protection. Of course, given Shoto was his "golden boy"... Yikes.
Yeah, that's true about PETA. Hell, if anything, their whole "animal protection" schtick might cause them to de-humanize most Heteromorphs, though God forbid I write them dehumanizing a black Mutant, because then someone would get Triggered...!
As for All for One, he considers Takei a "whetstone" for Shigaraki to sharpen himself off of; just because he can't watch their streams, doesn't mean he can't listen in. Though given there's bound to be Quirks that would let one grow extra eyes, I'm surprised he didn't put more effort into getting one of those. That or a scar-removing Quirk for cosmetic purposes... You get Cancer Cells to start growing inside a "Regenerator" and you've basically got a walking tumor.
As for the Curry of Life, it's from one of the Naruto filler arcs. In retrospect, I kinda fell off the wagon during the episode with the bridge in Shippuden where Naruto lost his shit and went 4-Tails, and only got back in partway through the War back when shit started getting DBZ levels of ludicrous. But that's beside the point.
Hah. "Noodle Incident" indeed. Makes me nostalgic for Calvin & Hobbes~
Pathfinder097: So I'm not sure what suit your gonna give Takei and I know you've looked at Kamen Rider a little here and there but have you seen Kamen Rider Vulcan's forms? He a rider you uses martial arts and fire arms...seems similar to Takei
Re: Kamen Rider Vulcan certainly looks interesting, though I'd fallen off the wagon a bit since starting lines like Fourze and OOOs.
All things considered, I'm suprised no-one commented about the Pokémon Battle I put in. I mean, there's scads of Pokémon x My Hero Academia fanart (the one that immediately comes to mind are Kirishima & Tetsutetsu as Metapod "duking it out" with [Harden]), so at the least I was expecting suggestions/demands for which Heroes have which Pokémon...
But I digress. On with the show!
*AHA*
After successfully extricating myself from Tio's death grip, my heart breaking just-a-little at her piteous whine as I (and/or my body heat) departed, I happened upon Sorahiko in his Gran Torino outfit nuking a taiyaki, playing the part of the doddering old man as he sat on the counter, idly swinging his boot-clad feet.
"Sleep well last night~?"
"I can't feel my spleen."
"Walk it off. I always did."
"And look how you turned out," I deadpanned.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
" . . . "
"Touche," the old man conceded. "So, you heading straight to school?"
"I'm gonna make sure Mitsumi gets to school alright."
"And what about your waddle-shark?" he asked pointing at the miniaturized Dive Ball on the end of my magnetized pendant. "Pokémon's as big now as it was when I was your age-"
"You mean back when Pokémon Yellow came out on the Gameboy~?"
"Cute. But in all seriousness, I've seen real and 'Fakémon' before; at least once or twice a decade before you got yours, so take it from me when I say, you're going to get a lot of unwanted attention with yours. Especially at school."
"Oh, don't worry about me~ I have something in mind for him~"
"Oh? Care to share~?"
"If all goes to plan, you'll hear the screaming~"
"Well that isn't cryptic at the slightest~" the elderly Hero grinned. *Ding~* "Oh boy, fish is done!"
"I'll see you at school, Jii-chan."
*AHA*
"Tatara-sensei, good morning," Mitsumi and I greeted astride our bikes.
"Morning, you two," the science teacher hummed, his primary arms taking attendance while one of his subs handled his phone and another held a breakfast burrito.
Screw superhero-grade Quirks; Quirks like that is where it's at.
"Is Hitomi-sensei in?" I inquired as Mitsumi cycled off.
"She is. Why?"
"I wanna drop something off."
"Care to share?"
"If all goes to plan, you'll hear the screaming."
"Eh, it was funnier the first time around," Sorahiko hummed from his new post; a security booth built into the fence just out of sight of the school gate. It looked ordinary, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was up to military code.
Heck, according to what I'd learned thus-far in Japanese public schooling, all buildings by default were more-robust than they would've been pre-paranormality, both in the military and civilian sectors.
Which had me wondering how-powerful those Villains that'd turned Desayaku, Jeda, Aldera, Sakariv, and Kijimi were to turn entire cities into concrete bowls…
"Just try not to cause a scene," Tatara-sensei hummed as he checked off more names.
"In Soviet Russia, scene causes me."
"HAH! Haven't heard that one in a while!" Sorahiko chuckled at Tatara's flummoxed look.
"I'm a veritable font of knowledge," I hummed dismissively as I moved to put up my bike.
*AHA*
"Hanako-chan, good morning," I greeted as I swapped out my shoes.
"Ah! Takei-kun! G-Good morning!" the Quirkless girl squeaked, her hair brushed more-confidently out of her face with a hair clip at her left temple.
"I see you put your braids back up."
"I'll let my hair down on… special occasions," she smiled prettily.
*Doki-Doki*
"U-Umu. Glad to see you're in such fine spirits," I hummed as I felt my 'kokori' pattering in my chest.
"It was the best Golden Week of my life~" she smiled.
"Let's make more happy memories, alright?"
"Hai!"
Too cute. Must protect.
*AHA*
Homeroom went by same as always, the only exception being when Tatara-sensei pulled me aside and asked once more where my "new friend" was; thankfully out of earshot of my peers.
In response, I told him that my "new friend" wouldn't be making appearances during school hours apart from gym class. Reason being, if he was out and about during class hours, "nothing would ever get done". Given the short attention span of the average junior high schooler, doubly-so with puberty already-underway if not on the horizon, he rapidly agreed to the point, but didn't inquire further.
The class breaks to follow were… more irritating than unpleasant, but not something I wasn't already inured to.
"You bastard! How could you hog these glorious boobs to yourself?!" Hanyuu Daisuke cried as he and his friends shoved Twitter posts in my face; prominently with an image of myself surrounded by the swimsuit clad Nemuri, Rumi, and Polt, all of whom were a combination of busty and athletic.
"If I ever get my hands on the guy that took that pic, I'm going to shove a brick up their ass…" I growled, once again confronted with unsanctioned photography.
"Why didn't you invite us?!" Takabana Yama cried, his nose lengthened for… reasons.
. . .
Gross.
"This body was made for swimsuit season!" Macchio Mamoru cried as he flexed his V-shaped physique.
Company he keeps notwithstanding, he could probably make it big as a swimsuit model or one of All Might's body doubles at the mall.
Oh, right. I should probably reply to all this malarkey.
"I don't have your contact info and I detest perverts with every fiber of my being," I said rolling up my workbook, Saidzuka Mamezou initiating a pre-emptive tactical retreat. "Maybe it's natural to look at girls 'that way', but guys who only see them that way piss me off," I growled, Tatara-sensei rubbing the bridge of his nose as he came in.
"Words are fine, but don't go punching anyone. Unlike me, you can't blame it on not being able to control an extra set of hands yet," our homeroom teacher huffed.
Thankfully, the perverts were too-distracted by the boobs to inquire about my new pet.
It wouldn't last, but I'd take the peace and quiet as long as I could find it.
*AHA*
"Takei-kun, what're you waiting for?" Kyouko asked as I looked down at my replacement watch.
"The payoff to all his foreshadowing~" Shiori hummed looking off to the side.
"Do I even want to know?" Kuromi deadpanned.
"It's 'foreshadowing'. The word implies some sort of payoff."
"Firstly, shadows are my schtick. Second-"
"IYAAAAAAAH!"
"And theeeere it is," Hanako hummed as footfalls padded toward our classroom at a rapid pace, the door slamming open moments later as Hanyuu returned to class.
With a tagalong.
"OH GOD! HE'S TRYING TO EAT MEEEE!" Hanyuu cried as Gible playfully nibbled on his rear.
"No. He's giving you a legitimate reason to go to the nurse's office."
"NO AMOUNT OF BOOBS ARE WORTH THIS!" the King of Boob Lovers cried as he shook his skirt-clad fanny to dislodge the Land Shark Pokémon.
It didn't work, but I gave him points for trying.
*AHA*
The "Statute of Secrecy" was never intended to be a long-term thing. Not as far as school was concerned. And it was entirely true that if Gible went with me to classes, nothing would get done because middle schoolers have a short attention span; made shorter by the presence of cute animals. Hence, the reason I asked Hitomi to watch after him during most school hours under the pretense of keeping him company and everyone else in my class on-task.
She was too innocent to consider that Gible himself was under orders to nibble on anyone (read: any boy) who came to her office with superficial injuries and stared at her chest in excess to an arbitrary amount of time.
Hopefully, this measure would decrease the number of boys letting themselves get hurt so they'd have an excuse to go to the nurse's office and ogle her boobs.
And while it certainly wasn't my job to see to Hitomi's safety in this way, not only did I not believe no-one would try to force themselves on her given what a bad combination teen hormones and superpowers made, but I also wasn't going to confine Gible to a pocket terrarium when he could be doing something infinitely more-stimulating. I'd seen tigers pacing their enclosures at the zoo pre-Isekai, and that meant their mental needs weren't being met; honestly, it was extremely heart-breaking to look at…
Not to say that Hitomi was pleased with the modicum of extra work I'd made for her with this little stunt, but I'd been kicked out of an anime convention pre-Isekai; I could take my lumps with the best of them.
*AHA*
"Moji-sensei, where's Takei-kun?" Hanako asked during gym, the girls fawning over the Land Shark Pokémon off to the side.
"Torino-san had a training aid for him, so he's probably still changing."
"Training aid?" the Quirkless girl blinked, a chatter from her classmates drawing her attention back in the direction of the locker rooms. "Is… Is that cosplay…?"
Aforementioned "training aid" took the form of a cobalt-colored full-body swimsuit made of what looked like galvanized rubber, hooking around his second and third toes, as well as his index and middle fingers. Criss-crossing around his calves, thighs, forearms, biceps, shoulders, waist, and torso were white bands of a similar material, the suit going up to his chin and up over his head with a similar white material, his face and flat stomach left exposed as he stiffly walked up to the track.
"Looks like some kind of pilot suit. Like Evangelion," Shiori hummed, Kuromi stroking Gible's head as the feeline-like-eared teen got to the starting line, face visibly contorting with effort.
"Um, Takei-kun… What are you wearing?" Hanako blinked.
"UTM… Ultra Training Mail…" the pre-teen panted. "Weighted gear's a no-go until I'm older, but resistance training is perfectly alright."
"Wait, is this from Yuuei?" Tetsutetsu blinked on approach.
"Jii-chan did teach there for a year," Takei deadpanned as he attempted a fast-walk on the track, the rubber of the suit audibly straining against his movements. "That Minotaur Villain came way too close to catching Mero and I, so I have to keep getting stronger. Doubly-so with all the publicity the little guy's gonna get for me."
"Hey, that reminds me for whatever reason," Itsuka hummed as she slowly fast-walked up to me, phone held up. "How come you got a 'royal boon' from her majesty but not the actual Pro Hero?"
Who the hell let that up on YouTube?!
*AHA*
Elsewhile at the Hero Public Safety Commission…
"Mera-san, how was your 'working vacation'?" Kinoshita Sayaka inquired as he sat across from her in her office, her morning meetings concluded.
"Liberating. I probably won't get another until retirement, but I'm sure I can hold out until then," the over-worked man said rubbing his eyes from the almost non-stop meetings he'd had to participate in alongside Kuroko and the RDA/STMO handlers.
For a kid, having a real-life Pokémon was the ultimate kid fantasy, but on the adult side of things, it was nothing but paperwork.
"At least yours doesn't actively make more work for you. There are worse problem children you could be handling than him."
*Whoosh*
"Was that-"
"The answer is, 'don't think about it'," she said schooling her features after a humanoid silhouette passed over Yokumiru's face from over her shoulder.
*Crash!*
"Um… At least he waited until Monday toooo… throw himself off the roof…?" Mera hummed awkwardly.
"There isn't any proof that that had anything to do with what we were talking about right now. Anyway, as I was saying…" Sayaka said straightening her already-straight reams of paperwork on her desk. "As far as 'problem children' go, Takehiko-kun is relatively benign. He's practically a poster child for the program."
"Including his livestreams on GGO?" Mera asked raising an eyebrow.
As Takei's handler, it was more or less "mandatory reading".
"Social commentary and sedition aren't the same thing; not as long as he doesn't act on it. And the fact that he's endorsing greater cooperation between meta and non-meta-powered law enforcement actually made him quite a few friends in local law enforcement,"
"Probably also helps that he's rubbing elbows with Kuroyama's kid," Mera hummed.
It was kinda hard to forget such a ball of energy like Papi. Not to mention the mother…
"Hm. Indeed," the madam president hummed. "Honestly…" she said growing more somber. "A part of me wonders if he was actually awake for that coma; unable to move, trapped in his own head with only his thoughts to keep him company… Maybe that's why he turned out the way he did…?" she said twitting her thumbs, the lines on her face deepening.
"Thanks for the nightmare fuel…" Mera grumbled.
Despite how far along they'd come in medicine, regardless of their stagnation in other fields, there was still plenty that remained unknown about the human brain; doubly-so once Quirks started to muddy the water. Sure, you had Quirks that let you "go into people's heads", but the issue with using Mental Class Quirks like that in medical studies was there wasn't a shred of physical evidence to back up any claims about what "Thought Divers" actually saw when they sniffed around under the hood or moved around the furniture.
"It's not just that. Remember his New Year's letter?" she asked.
"How could I not? I mean, what twelve-year-old actually thinks about that sort of thing?"
"The sort of kid who finds out he's been low-key 'stripped for parts'," she said rubbing at her face, feeling just a little bit older after waving that letter in the Boards' faces.
In the same way that being the American President ages you "ten years", being president for any HPSC branch tended to do much the same. Even with Pro Hero bodyguards on hand at all times, the stress of the job was monumental. Not only were there no shortage of enemies without or within, there were also the choices that had to be made "for the greater good".
"How about we change tack," Mera said as his boss started to go down a spiral. "The Rabbit Hero was there to save Lourelai-ojousama as well, how come she didn't get a royal boon?"
"According to our foreign relations guys, what Usagiyama did wasn't especially 'noteworthy' in Neptunia's eyes because that was 'exactly the job she was being paid to do' with taxpayer Yen," Sayaka began. "Takehiko on the other hand; he could've run, but he didn't, and no-one would've blamed him if he had. Instead, he put his life on the line and almost got killed by a High-B-Class Villain to keep her safe."
"Not to mention he probably had to swallow a whole lot of pride when he set off that distress beacon," Mera said rubbing his hair.
"According to his latest interview," she said pushing a Shoowaysha magazine with a dog-eared page across her desk, "at that moment, Meroune's safety was more-important than anything else, and he desperately wanted anyone to come save him."
"So thaaat explains all those retractions I saw in the break room…"
"Yes. Kizuki definitely raked those other media outlets over the coals for writing 'about him' instead of getting it straight from the horse's mouth."
"Don't let the guy at the front desk hear you making that joke," Mera chuckled.
"Oh, you know what I mean," Sayaka hummed. "Still, it might've been the kick in the pants those other Heroes in Asaka-shi needed to get their shot group together. With the Mon Squad off in Naruhata doing Kami knows what, there isn't anyone else to blame for the sudden spike in crime. It isn't anything huge, at least not yet, but the APD are starting to take notice, and it's only a matter of time before word gets out and blame starts getting thrown around."
While it was true that being a Pro Hero was the most-glamorous job one could have, the major drawback of having that kind of exposure was the Heroes always got blamed first whenever something (read: anything) went wrong. Even when they had literally nothing "to do with" an ongoing social and/or economical crisis.
Most Heroes caught up in any sort of career-killing scandal or news cycle tended to opt out of the program entirely, putting years of training and millions of Yen to waste…
In the worst-case scenario, most Heroes would just move to another country more-often-than-not on another continent and re-brand themselves there.
"At least Takei has such a good support network around him," Mera hummed. "I saw the way he acted when Kuroko and Zombina managed to come by. There was a ton of love there; really helps restore your faith in humanity, you know?"
"Faith… Yeah, I guess you're right…" she hummed. "So… What do you think of the network he's building up?"
"If he were any older, I'd think it was intentional," Mera hummed as he thought back to the latest additions to the kid's growing casefile as a quote/unquote "problem child" of the HPSC.
Everyone called them "VIPs", but it was an open secret as to what that actually meant.
Apart from the Mon Squad, who were brought into his life at the behest of Manaka Hitomi so he wouldn't go back into the foster care system that'd inadequately protected him from Villains in the first place, his first real acquaintance of note was the Jet Hero: Gran Torino, one-time trainer of their own Symbol of Peace. Hatsume Mei, daughter of two tenured professors at Todai, was relatively benign apart from her habit of going to scrap yards around Japan and running her parents' interns for the ringer. Yaoyorozu Momo on the other hand, heiress to the Yaoyorozu Meta-Materials conglomerate, was a huge red flag. Latest intel actually suggested that because she'd met Tokei and Mei, she'd actually cast off her hangers-on at Miyukiyama who were quite unobtrusively using her for her money.
Add his new acquaintanceship with the Neptunian royal family atop all that, and, well…
"Not to mention his real-life Pokémon," Mera hummed aloud. "I still have to wonder if all the cross-dimensional activity happening in Japan is the universe's idea of a joke."
"Leave that to the TSARO. We've got enough problems to deal with on one Earth before we start thinking about the others."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mera hummed. "So what did you think of his little showing?"
"At the boon granting ceremony?" the madam president blinked. "Obviously his critics think someone fed him that line, but given the way he acts normally, I highly doubt that's the case," she said shaking her head. "Any other twelve-year-old would've asked for money, or a one-on-one meet-and-greet with a Top 10 Hero. That he chose to hang on to what's essentially a royal favor from a prosperous nation… To hear his reasoning for not cashing it in immediately, it was actually quite humbling. And a little disheartening."
The worst thing you could see as a Hero or Commission member was a child losing a portion-of if not all of their innocence.
"Yeah, at least the kid doesn't make me wanna jump off a building."
"Once again, there isn't a shred of proof that what we may or may not have seen, had anything to do with our younger VIPs."
"Well, if it helps you sleep at night."
"If anyone needs help sleeping at night, it's you."
"Hm. Touche."
*AHA*
With the proverbial land shark sufficiently out-of-the-bag, I had to suffer a deluge of inquiries from the school's "Pokémon Club" (on top of everyone else who didn't choose that as an after-school activity but had some nerdy minutiae of the long-lived franchise). As an element of Japanese pop culture that'd been self-perpetuating for around two centuries, people couldn't exactly argue against it warranting an after-school meeting group any more than they could've done one century ago.
Thankfully, Gible was able to sense my distress at all the excess scrutiny, and a little curling of gums was all it took to regain some modicum of privacy.
At least not until tomorrow, but that was a problem for tomorrow's me.
What was a problem for today's me was how the school principal summoned me to his office at the end of the day.
It'd been discrete, with Tatara-sensei coming to get me instead of him announcing it for the entire school to hear, but I was still markedly nervous. Apart from orientation, I hadn't actually spoken to the man, and while I was more of a "Padawan" than a "Trekkie", I was still understandably nervous about meeting the man who controlled what went onto my permanent record.
His office was an ordinary-enough space, typical of Japanese principal's offices with a picturesque view of the school courtyard, students ambling home in singles, pairs, and clusters, a few stopping at Gran Torino's booth for novelty autographs if not asking for letters of recommendation to Hero Academies. Word was just as quick to spread about him being a former Yuuei instructor as it was that I had a real-life Pokémon.
All that aside, though he was speaking in Japanese, the tone and inflections reminded me all too much of what little I'd seen of the Star Trek franchise.
"Picar-sensei, am I in some sort of trouble?"
"Normally you would be, but word of Hanyuu's antics as far as Hitomi-sensei is concerned have reached even here, so I'm willing to give you a little bit of slack," Picar hummed good-naturedly. "But this meeting isn't about that. I'd like to run something by you. Please, take a seat."
"Ah, thank you," I returned, lowering myself into the plush seat and scooting my chair closer to his immaculate wood desk. Mahogany, perhaps?
"Tell me, have you ever heard of the game show, Run for the Money?"
"I think it came up when I was channel surfing with the Mon Squad. It's basically a high-stakes game of Hide-and-Seek meets Tag, right?"
"In a nutshell," he said passing a few sheets of paper forward after turning the print around to face me. Giving it a quick once-over, before I could speak the man interceded- "The company that presently owns the rights submitted a proposal regarding a 'Rival Schools' episode. They've had a difficult time getting Yuuei and Shiketsu to lend out their students for their program, so they're thinking of targeting junior high schools whose principals are rival alumnus. As it just so happens…" he said taking a framed picture from his desk before handing it over, "I happen to be a Yuuei Alumnus, and the principal of our 'rival school' in this district, Murakami Chugakko, is a Shiketsu alumnus."
"Huh. Small world," I hum looking over the man's graduating picture from what was essentially a trade college.
As someone who never actively watched Star Trek, while I could easily recognize Picar-sensei in his form-fitting Star Fleet-esque uniform, I didn't know if any of those standing alongside him were unabashedly "references" in the same way Moji-sensei was to Chewbaka from Star Wars.
Also, why did the name "Murakami" poke at my hind-brain…?
"Unofficially, Damoto and Murakami are 'escalator schools' for Yuuei and Shiketsu respectively, a bit of a holdover from mine and Bort-sensei's days from rival Hero Agencies," Picar continued.
"If it's unofficially an escalator school, wouldn't there be more money put into this place?" I inquired.
"Honestly, everyone thinks that junior high schools will get glory from helping bear graduates from high profile Academies, but the fact of the matter is, unless it's a dedicated escalator school, people don't really tend to pay that much attention to what graduates were doing before trade school," Picar answered. "Unfortunately, that mindset has led schools to waive certain troublesome… behavior for those with powerful Quirks, and help churn out unscrupulous Heroes who often wash out of the program once they get a dose of reality."
"Yeah, Kuroko told me about that. Apparently, pretty much all her detractors washed out or bit the big one with nothing more than a minor mentioning in the obituary," I returned, reminded once again that Quirks eroded all higher thinking.
"Hm, indeed," the man replied. "And really, unless a graduate makes it into the Top 10, people won't really care about their pre-Academy days, and while mine and Bort-sensei's schools have been fostering Yuuei and Shiketsu alumnus, it's been largely General, Support, and Business tracks with only a few from the Hero track scattered here and there."
" . . . Soooo you want me to help round up a posse so you can rub it in Borg-I mean Bort-sensei's nose in it?"
"Officially I can't admit as such, but on a personal level, the idea of surgically-implemented Support Items has always been a sore spot for me."
Ah, okay, so Bort-sensei is an expy for the Borg.
I might not be a "Trekkie", but even I know what the Borg are all about.
"Doesn't this violate some sort of labor law?" I asked the most-obvious question about pre-teens on a popular gameshow.
"Only if there isn't certain amounts of restricted Quirk usage for 'entertainment purposes' and the money goes directly toward a legal guardian," he said making air quotes. "As I recall, there was a child Hero from your favorite show who was able to work corporate because of her flashy Quirk. I believe her name was… Dragon Kid?"
"Pao-Lin Huang, sponsored by Odysseus Communication," I recited, Dragon Kid sticking out to me by the sheer novelty of a literal teenager competing against grown-ass men and women, some of which were twice her age.
True, Karina Lyle aka "Blue Rose" wasn't much older, but at the very least she was already in high school by the time she began endorsing the latest variant of Pepsi.
"Wait, how-restricted are we talking?"
"Obviously, lethal force and excessive collateral are frowned upon in most modern gameshows, but with the sheer success seen by the Yuuei Sports Festival, various companies are beginning to see that the ratings would actually be worth the hassle involved in ensuring certain venues," the bald man replied. "The popularity of 'Epic Fail Montages' on YouTube involving Quirks are testament to that."
"Huh. Must've glossed over that," I hummed. "Wait, does you singling me out have anything to do with all the publicity I've been getting."
"Only a little bit, though your recent dealings with Neptunia have made you a bit of a hot commodity. Doubly-so after your latest article and your new… friend, made the rounds."
Gible's Dive Ball quivered against my sternum, but I have it a reassuring pat, calming the little guy down.
"Can I refuse?"
"Oh, don't worry, it's strictly voluntary. However, the pot does offer a significant windfall if you're able to make it through toward the end. Not as much as when grown adults or low-tier Heroes actually compete, but the money is in no way insubstantial."
"Soooo you do want me to round up a posse?"
"If you feel up to whoring yourself out to the public, though from what I've been hearing, you aspire to graduate from Yuuei, and this might make for good practice," the man replied. "I also heard from the grapevine that you asked Moji-sensei to help you reach the level of a decathlon runner. Something about an 'American Dream Plan'?"
"Well, when I saw him in the hall of fame, after that incident with, ugh, Megataur… I wanted to get strong enough to look after myself and not make anyone cry."
And boy was it a shock when I realized that was what he looked like without his winter coat…
"That the American Dream Plan was drafted by my favorite Hero during his time in the states prior to helping with Japan's own Hero Academy system, is just the icing on the cake."
"Ah, yes. As I recall, Kaburagi Kotetsu was well above the level of even today's Olympic athletes even without his [Hundred Power]," Picar hummed thoughtfully.
"When you have a power with only a 1:12 uptime ratio, you need something to carry you through the cooldown."
"Indeed. Something most Heroes have forgotten," Picar nodded. "Too many Heroes nowadays choose to ride their flashy Quirks, and those that would benefit most from a surplus of athletic prowess instead choose to lean into their meta-abilities too much."
"A bit of an over-correction in my opinion," I returned. "I don't see any sort of date on here."
"The TV company wants some sort of guaranteed roster before they start moving forward with venue and insurance. Doubly-so because while teenagers and pre-teens using their Quirks for show makes for good television, getting all the fiscal ducks in a row can be a real nightmare."
"Hm. I'll run it by some of my friends, then. Tetsutetsu and Itsuka for certain would be up for the sort of training to lead up to this. The others might just sign on for the novelty, but I'd like to give the other classes a chance as well. Mitsumi's more delinquent side would have my ass if I excludded her…"
After I almost got killed by a High-B-Rank Villain, Itsuka and Tetsutetsu expressed a renewed interest in getting stronger to Sorahiko who, in turn, suggested they better themselves through junior high school since him watching over me had literally become his job. To that end, Tetsutetsu offered his services to the Rugby Club, while Itsuka went into Judo. They were only "part-timers" to those clubs, but it never hurt to broaden your horizons.
Apparently, Shiori had been hanging out with the Origami and Ninjutsu Clubs, while Kuromi leaned toward part-timing for the Occult Research Club. Whether it was because they genuinely wanted to become Heroes or they just wanted to flush out their "characters" more wasn't known to me, but I was happy they were still making time for our unofficial club after school and on the weekends.
"Do you want me to win it big so I can help reimburse for damages?"
"Hm? What? No! No, gods no!" the man said waving his hands. "That's what insurance money is for, and because we're seeing to your education, the HPSC has given us stipends as well."
"Oh, good," I hummed.
In all honesty, pre-Isekai I'd never had any sort of track record for winning prizes from any sort of contest, or even raffles, but then again, this was basically an "Isekai". Half the point of such an arrangement, apart from making up for previous regrets, another was branching out to try new things, and I admit, part of me did want to try winning it big on a high-stakes gameshow.
Heck, pre-Isekai I'd always wanted to go on something like Ninja Warrior or maybe Wipeout, and even if I couldn't feasibly win something that crazy, it was the novelty I would've wanted to partake in.
"I'll admit, I am intrigued. And you're right, with all the attention I've been getting, and will probably continue to get," I said letting Gible out of his terrarium before holding him in my lap like a support animal, "I may as well get used to all the attention."
"Excellent! I'll run this by Moji-sensei and see if he can't help screening potential applicants. Just because we're bound to get no shortage of volunteers, doesn't mean I want us to put on a bad showing. Because I'm fairly certain that Bort-sensei will already be screening applicants of her own…"
"Hey, when you say 'surgically-implemented Support Items', how 'surgically-implemented' are we talking here?"
"Levels toeing the line of legal human augmentation."
"Oh, so that bad, huh…" I hummed aloud.
"Hm. Quite. I'm happy to see you know where to draw the line."
"Yeah, well, I've seen enough old dystopian movies to know that cyborg augmentation is a Pandora's Box that does not need to be truly opened IRL."
Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its sequel Mankind Divided amongst others helped cement how frightening a world with rampant tech-augmentation could actually be.
Shit was bad enough with only superpowers…!
"So, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?" Picar asked. "If your schedule's open, I could always make you some tea to make up for taking up your time."
"I actually have plans with Gordy."
"Hirobiro? Ah, yes, I recall he was the source of this whole 'Mop Bucket Slingshot' craze that's been making the rounds on YouTube."
"Ah. Amusing."
But also frightening. Truly frightening.
Still, the more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess.
*AHA*
"Gordy."
"Ya-huh?"
"When you told me you had a crafting bench I could borrow, I didn't think you meant all this," I said as I stared at the veritable Hero-grade workshop all around me out behind the school. Grinders to turn recyclable materials into granules, 3D Printers to make use of those granules, and a whole litany of fabrication tools that'd make Mei-chan green with envy and giddy at the sight of it all. "How did you even afford all this?"
"At the end of the year, everyone else just gives me the scraps from their flex accounts. You have that happen for a couple decades and… Here you have it," the ferret-headed man shrugged.
"Well, nice to know I won't have to go all the way to Bunkyo if the urge strikes me," I say going over to a box filled with odds-and-ends with a crossed out Lost & Found scribbled on the side in marker. "Hmmmmmm…"
"Oh? What gave you that twinkle in your eye?" he asked as I pulled out a black 8-Ball.
"Maybe a micro-flail," I hum thinking back to the primary melee weapon in Watch_Dogs 2. "Just gotta find the right kind of cord for a lanyard aaaand…"
"Well, just make sure you always wear safety glasses," Gordy hummed as I went into a muttering fit.
*AHA*
I'll admit, when I was browsing through Netflix for something interesting to binge, I was skeptical at first about how a high-stakes game of Tag x Hide & Seek could keep my attention, but I was thankfully proven wrong~
Of course, that isn't the only reference abound~ But until next time, I'll see ya when I see ya!