8 Chapter 8 – Meeting with Giran and New Costume

Giran's POV

I saw my client arrive at the meeting point, my office, and we both sat down and shook hands. He was a new mysterious Vigilante that appeared a year ago and was feared by small local gang but nothing more. His Vigilante name was Knockout, as his opponents never knew what hit them before being knocked out. I was quite intrigued by him, as there were next to nothing known about him. It seemed he was a kid, as pictures of him and his beginnings and right now showed quite a difference in height, as if he was growing, which was probably the case.

I was quite surprised that he requested a meeting with me because I don't what a small Vigilante like him would want from me, but it wasn't like Vigilantes weren't among my clients. I even sold information to Heroes sometimes so…I wasn't going to decline money.

He started to speak, and his adult voice slightly surprised me but I quickly went over it, there were weirder things in this world.

Raiko's POV

Giran was a well-known information broker in the underworld that was proven to be trustworthy about his clients, albeit a little expensive. I learned about him when Knuckle Duster "accidentally" spoke about him to me when I was saying how I would have my revenge on the group that had kidnapped me, but that I couldn't because I didn't have information.

After I entered his office, I quickly used Quirk Vision on him to know his quirk, but do note that I was wearing contact lenses that changed the color of my eyes.

Muddiness (686): Allows user to cause minor amnesia to a target my making contact with their head, making the memories of the previous and next five minutes vague.

It was a pretty harmless quirk, and he shouldn't have any reason to use it on me. I shook his hand and started to talk.

"Giran, I'm looking for someone who can create costumes, no questions asked, but I primarily want information."

I explained to him about that I was searching about a medium or big villain group that had a decline, maybe a small one, about five years or six years ago, but that was still active today. I purposefully gave him a little amount of information so that he could not trace this back to my real identity, the last thing I wanted was for an information broker to learn of my real identity. That also was for this reason that I didn't talk about the shadow quirk guy.

I knew that he would probably have a lot of results, but, with enough investigating, I would be able to narrow down to villain groups to a few.

"You know that your request is very vague, right? I'll probably have a lot of results, and this will cost you a lot. About the costume maker, though, I have one in mind that would be perfect for you, he did the costume of a couple of Vigilantes and villains, a pretty honest guy, no questions asked, he replied to me."

"I know, I don't care about the number of results nor the price of the information. I'm also not in a hurry to have the information, though I would prefer in it was soon."

"Well, for the costume guy, that's pretty simple. It'll be 50 000 ¥ (500 USD). For the other information, it depends on how hard it will be to find. Meet me here again, in a week, at midnight and I'll give you the information along with my price, but I warn you, it'll be expensive."

Damn, that was already expensive, 50 000 ¥ only for a costume maker and my information was at least going to be a dozen times more expensive. And there was no negotiation possible, he had his prices, but he had a good reputation.

Fortunately, I had taken quite a lot of money from the gangs I had stopped when I was alone. These days, I was going solo rather than with Knuckle Duster as I was more than strong enough to defend myself. Also, Knuckle Duster refused to steal money from criminals and stopped me from doing so. I know it was theft, but they were criminals and I need money, Vigilantes aren't paid like Heroes.

I still regularly talked with Knuckle Duster, but we were slowly drifting apart, we weren't in the same league anymore. I was aiming to take down big villain groups that even pro-heroes couldn't, but Knuckle Duster didn't mess with those, he would be killed in a matter of days. I was still very grateful to him for his training, though, and if he ever needed my help, I would be more than happy to provide it.

Back to my discussion with Giran, I sealed our deal with another handshake and handed him the money for the costume guy. He gave me a name, a number and an address and I left. That was why Giran was one of the best information broker, he was quick to the point, and didn't ask any questions. I wanted information, and he wanted money. As simple as that.

I was quite happy with how the meeting went, Giran truly lived up to his reputation. Also, he shouldn't be able to deduce my identity from the information I gave him, I should be safe.

The Evening Two Days Later

I was now on my way to meet the person that Giran suggested me for my costume. I had called the guy the same day I met Giran, but he was only available today.

During those two days, I had started to search for incident involving someone with shadow quirk that matched the description of the guy that had kidnapped me, but I didn't have a lot of success so far. They were a lot of people with similar quirks and not a lot of coverage on them.

I arrived at his shop and honestly, it was very bland. It was disguised as an old library and it was truly unremarkable. If I didn't know the place, I probably would've never suspected this place to be the shop of one of the best costume makers for Vigilantes.

I knocked on the door and an old man looking like a librarian opened the door. I activated Quirk Vision and yep, I was at the right place.

Omni-Tool (556): Allows user to store any tool inside his body and make them appear in his hands.

When the man saw me in my Vigilante costume, he instantly knew why I was there and dropped his act.

"Follow me", he said as he gestured toward stairs leading to a basement.

I obliged and down the stairs, there was an impressive workshop with a lot of projects that he was working on, but it was still very tidy.

"So, what do you want in your costume?" He asked, not wasting any time.

"I want completely transparent, but resistant googles, the best compact gas mask you can offer me, and the stealthiest outfit you can create. I want the fabric to be a minimum resistant, but prioritize stealth first. I also want the googles and the gas mask to be attached to a helmet that would also cover my face and be hard enough to stop a bullet. Also, boots that can silence my footsteps. No glove. There is no need for weapons , but I would like a belt that can store tools" I explained to him what I wanted.

I also requested a couple of specialized tools that could help me in various situations like a high-end laser cutter, a strong and compact flamethrower. I knew that I didn't really need the belt, as I could just open a very small gate to my room (I always had a finger observing my whole room) and take the items I needed, but you never know, I would probably be handy one day.

The costume designer that was listening to me quickly wrote down what I said as I spoke and when I finished, he hastily drew a sketch of my future costume, and showed it to me. After a few minor adjustments, the costume looked ideal, I was satisfied. 700 000¥ (7000 USD) later (the fabric and some tools were very expensive) I was out of the shop, returning home and my costume would be finished in four days.

I returned home and got into the backyard to practise and improve my Steel Body and space distortion. I was testing my limits by maintaining a portal open for the longest time possible, trying to increase my strength (by turning my muscles into steel) as much as I could, and by submitting the metal parts of my body to extreme heat or cold.

I was quite satisfied as I could resist temperatures of up to 500 degrees or -200 degrees, but it still quite hurt, I was able to punch through walls and I had a grip strength of 200 kg. Overall, I was very satisfied with my progress.