Investigate, Mark, Survive.

"Come on, get up. I thought you wouldn't miss your morning jog for anything."

Six o'clock in the morning. Felix had only slept 4 hours, but this time, it would be okay for him despite his previous sleepless night. Unlike Rumi, he didn't need an 8-hour night. Even though he had already woken her up several times, Rumi didn't deign to get out of bed and just grunted every time he tried to pull her out.

"And to think you wanted to continue in the shower. Look at you now," Felix sighed. "If it makes you like this, we won't do what we did yesterday again. I don't want to exhaust you.~"

"Mmmh."

"Indeed."

"Just a little longer, and I'm on my way..."

Felix sighed again, then pulled her by one foot with all his might to make her fall off the bed as she tried to hang on to the couch. Rumi tried her best to struggle against him, but given her condition, she simply fell on her buttocks while looking at her night lover with an annoyed gaze.

"You..." she tried to rush him, but Felix slipped out into the hallway as quickly as possible to avoid being strangled once again. "Wait until I get dressed, and ya'll see!"

"At least you're up now. Better that than being late."

"Like I give a shit about these fuckin' bureaucrats!"

"In the meantime, they're paying you."

Everything was going more or less as Felix had expected. By the time she returned to see him, her aggressiveness had already almost disappeared, giving way only to a silent and embarrassed Rumi. The fact that his methods worked so fast and so well was a miracle, but her rabbit-like features made things easier. Luckily, he had started his life here with her, and if he played his cards right, no one would suspect anything.

"About last night..." she grumbled, sipping her carrot juice through her drinking straw. "I..."

"Won't tell anyone. It's in the contract, anyway. Besides, I don't mind keeping this part of you just for myself," he said, taking care to keep a serious expression. "You really never told anybody about this?"

"...And who could I have talked to about it...?"

"No idea, but now you can tell me about it," he smiled provocatively as he went to put his dishes in the sink and rubbed her head as he passed by.

"Stop doing that... I'm not an animal..." she murmured.

"Yes, yes."

There weren't many people who could really chat with Rumi. For the umpteenth time, this demonstrated that he was pressing the correct buttons. He had managed to create a unique and probably unprecedented relationship for her.

However, he ended this little game and prepared for the morning jog; for the first time, he was the only one who seemed motivated, but Mirko followed him anyway, taking care to tie up her hair. The icy air outside was abnormal for an early spring, so Rumi, usually so energetic, found herself focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

—I know I didn't give her what she wanted... and we weren't excited enough, or I would have had at least 250 EXP... but still, to be even needier than before...

If this were to continue in the future, he would have no choice but to use reward hormones to satisfy her in the short term so that she would be able to do something. Allowing him to make her cravings rise in herself without doing anything to her-

In a small dark alleyway, which they passed by daily every time they went jogging, Felix noticed something strange, like a strange and confused aura; Rumi, thanks to her animal instincts, detected it too, but aware that she didn't have her hero's costume or her license, and that she already had two warnings due to her past, she turned her head and continued running, frowning. Neither of them commented on this, but they looked at each other with their eyes full of curiosity.

Felix was finally able to run at the same speed she was running; the hormones he was producing and had stolen from her enabled him to adapt to his partner, he was better and quicker at running, and his kicks got more punch. Without any real result on the subject, he suspected that the super-hormones he was using were modifying his body little by little, if we follow the logic, he could become "like her" by forcing his body to accept what was happening to him, in other words, he would partially become a rabbit. Probably that's what this checkbox in his system is for:

[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]

[Super-Hormones Modifier — None.]

[▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲]

If no answer were forthcoming at the moment, the answer would obviously come in the future after much research and experimentation.

In a sense, he sometimes thought he was a mad scientist himself, trying to see where the limits of the human body housing a quirk could be. Agreeing to boost the heroes was just another of his ploys to get answers and results on how to make the perfect man and woman.

He knew his definition of perfection was biased, but you don't fix the world with diplomacy.

Basing his world on sex was a crazy gamble, but it made sense when he analyzed most animal species that were societally similar to humans, such as wolves, bonobos, etc.

The memories of his father being cuckolded by his mother because he couldn't be rich, strong, and handsome enough despite his job as a hero haunted him. He had seen his mother with countless men, taking advantage of her quirk to get what she wanted while enjoying the benefits of having a husband. How many men still lived that way today?

Felix had promised himself to be different. Since his childhood, he had done everything to be what people call an "alpha", repelled by his father's image ending up accepting the situation between him and his wife.

Acceptance and cowardice aren't the same things. His father never tried to understand why he ended up where he was at the time, blaming him, probably to avoid taking responsibility. Judging his late activities in the justice system and heroic work, it would have tarnished more than a single life. In this little game, Felix is just a random pawn left alone on the board, but he soon realizes that if he goes step by step from white squares to black squares, he will eventually become a king—or any other chess piece.

—Changing the world... Childish dream of mine.

After sighing while thinking about his life, he joined Mirko at the parking lot, waiting for their driver since none of them had a license. Mirko simply didn't require transportation to get around, and Felix was unable to finish his driver's license before being sent to prison. Somehow, the heroine was still a bit reserved, but she had softened, so she tried to talk to him, but he was far too busy thinking.

He wouldn't change the world, at least from the start, but he would change his own from now on.

With his quirk, perhaps he could still reshape the men and women around him so that they would become what their true selves really desire, even if this comes from a subconscious process and not what is dictated by the hero society. He saw too much copy of the same dream, the same goal's archetype, the same people trying to imitate the hero they read about in comics or manga. This isn't what people truly desire, this is just a disguise to be appreciated by everyone, which is a false path to happiness and recognition.

However, his methods would never be accepted by scientific academies. He also knew that his quirk influenced his—

"What're ya thinking about?" Rumi asked, elbowing him. The sound of the car engine they were in roaring silently in the background.

"Eh... Nothing, I'm just wondering what they're going to tell us when we get there."

The car they were in was probably worth a fortune, 500 horsepower engine, armor plating, tinted windows, yet its exterior appearance was simple to not attract people's attention. After the light turned red and the car stopped, the chameleon man turned towards them, moving each eye in a different direction.

"They've got a bunch of people who are going to help you get ready for the tournament, advice, etc... Finally, if I understood correctly, for you Mirko, apart from reminders, you already know everything about this business."

"It's been almost 10 years since I've been in this "business." Things must have changed since then," she replied, turning her head towards the window. "I wonder if the guys I met back then are still there..."

The driver fixed his eyes back on the road and continued to go towards the HQ. He had the answers to the woman's questions, but it wasn't up to him to answer them. After a 15-minute drive, they entered a parking lot on the edge of the main building and were guided to a large office on one of the building's highest floors.

Aside from being full of paper and covered in dust, the room was spacious and rich with diverse and varied technology that served to keep informed of all the unexpected things that the blasé-looking woman sitting behind her desk filling out paperwork at an alarming rate might encounter.

Nightseye was also present; however, a man with a dark, unshaven face, Cartesian expression, and scarred fists stood next to the hero, lying against the wall with his arms crossed. Felix had never met him, but given his stature and charisma, he would be necessary for the mission.

"You are..." Rumi began, narrowing her eyes towards the man. "That guy who saved me from that black shadow ten years ago!"

"Tiger Bunny? That was your lame nickname back then, wasn't it?" he replied with a sadistic grin.

"No need to repeat what the public was saying at the time..."

"You don't seem to remember my name, but they used to call me The Ripper in MMA tournaments, and later O'Clock," he explained as he approached them. "Nice to meet you, son; glad to be your hand-to-hand combat coach until further notice."

"Huh?" asked Felix, raising an eyebrow; he shook his hand, but the strength of his grip made him wince. "Felix Fortier, pleased to meet you... but what do you mean by "coach"?"

A chair noise echoed across the room; the President came to sit at the large table in front of her desk and placed a new folder on it. After she sat down, she simply collapsed onto the table with a tired gaze.

"This case is a real pain in the ass..." she whispered with a sigh. "Settle down. Nighteye and Mr. Oguro or formerly O'Clock will be your assistants and coaches, especially for you, Felix, for the next few months."

"What... do you mean by that?"

"Your hand-to-hand level is decent, but for someone like you, learning from Mirko, who attacks with legs, from Mr. Oguro who attacks with fists and from Nighteye being a professional dodger and counterattacker, we're sure that combined with your quirk, you'll be capable of great feats. Especially if you train with some weapons after this."

"Several months, eh..." he sighed. "How many exactly?"

"As long as it takes."

"That's very precise, indeed."

His answer brought silence to the room as Mirko tapped her foot, already eager to get this over with. The only thing she liked 100% was fighting; all the formality and paperwork made her want to sleep.

"I saw you in our fight... between Felix and me, I mean," she said, speaking to Nighteye. "I thought I had already seen the moves Felix had performed. It was you, right?"

"Indeed, I trained him. And the only reason I'm going to continue to train him is that he allowed me to talk to All Might again..." replied the hero, glancing at Felix. "You got his attention for a reason still unknown to me, so know that I will help you get stronger. However, for that to happen, you have to win your matches in the MMA tournament; I could "see" that the competition will finally last only one night; you'll have to be quick."

"So, what good will your help and O'Clock's help do...?" Rumi asked, putting her elbows on the table. "We can handle this on our own."

"We'd like you to pick up a man named Kendo Rappa. Mr. Oguro and Mirko knowing him already will be an important factor in getting him to agree to the deal, and Nighteye will be there to help you if the plan goes wrong," explained the President as she sorted through her paperwork. "The Rapper... that's his nickname, he's very well known on the Dark Net, if he ever falls into the hands of the wrong people, then that would be a problem. In other words, your mission is to investigate the quirk boost drug, mark up suspicious people, and get Kendo Rappa back here so we can take care of his case. And survive, of course."