Several months had passed since that incident in the rain.
Nothing particularly significant had happened since then, at least not on the surface. Reiji had kept himself busy with small surveillance jobs and discreet tracking assignnts, and undercover assignnts assigned by the Commission in various areas marked on the criminal map he had found months earlier in the abandoned house in Giran.
Most of the locations turned out to be re hotspots of common cri: illegal trafficking of minor drugs, clandestine sales of basic weapons, or local gangs trying to survive in the most neglected sectors of Musutafu.
Reiji had even indirectly helped take down so of those organizations in the hope of finding a useful lead on the dealer, but nothing really worked. No one knew where Giran was, or at least, no one important enough to be worth the effort.
That only reinforced the most troubling theory.
Giran was still active because soone much bigger was still protecting him.
And in the anti, Reiji remained the only low-profile operative agent within Musutafu. That ant that practically any minor incident involving suspicious information eventually ended up coming to him. That constant workload was slowing down his personal investigation
Incidents involving the evolution drug had decreased; Reiji, familiar with clinical thinking, assud they were now entering a recovery phase before returning to the streets.
It had already been nearly seven months since his transfer to the city.
And six months since what happened with Himiko.
Things between them were still… Working. But not the sa.
Reiji pretended that night had never happened, and Himiko had ended up accepting the silent ga between them, though clearly not because she wanted to. The only reason they hadn't ended up in a much worse emotional breakdown was quite simple: Himiko still needed his blood every so often, which was too important a matter to just drift apart without consequences.
The worst part was that the older she got, the more evident the increase in that urge within her beca. Reiji suspected it was a mix of hormonal maturation and the natural developnt of her Quirk.
In Reiji's own case, he had also begun to notice certain strange changes in his own body. Blood production had increased considerably, as had his regeneration speed. The Commission's doctors had even started monitoring him more frequently because of that, though no one seed to fully understand what was actually happening.
His life had beco exhausting.
But even soone like him still had to maintain a normal appearance.
And that was precisely why he was there now.
"Are you ready? There are still plenty of inventions we haven't seen yet."
Shinso's voice finally snapped him out of his thoughts. Reiji barely looked up as he finished washing his hands in the bathroom of the U.A. annex campus. Beside him, Shinso absentmindedly adjusted the hood of his sweatshirt with that permanent tired expression that seed to be a natural part of his face.
"Yeah," Reiji replied as he turned off the faucet. "I was just thinking."
Shinso watched him through the mirror for a few seconds before letting out a small nasal exhale.
"Mhmm… Sure. I'm sure you were thinking," he comnted with muted irony. "It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you've been ignoring all the girls staring at you for the past ten minutes since we walked in."
Reiji glanced at him sideways.
"Does that really seem that important to you?"
Shinso clicked his tongue imdiately.
"Damn good-looking people…" he muttered as they finally left the bathroom. "You guys have it easy."
Reiji let out just a small snort.
The bustle of the main gym hit them the mont they stepped through the bathroom doors. Their high school had been selected along with other schools to attend a technical exhibition organized by the U.A. Support Departnt—a sort of fair where students presented inventions, prototypes, and experintal equipnt focused on professional heroes.
And honestly… the place was impressive.
The entire gym had been transford into a sort of futuristic technology center. Holographic screens projected real-ti statistics on devices, small drones hovered over different areas while broadcasting live footage, and multiple testing stations allowed visitors to interact with experintal equipnt under student supervision. The atmosphere was far more lively than competitive; teenage engineers proudly explained their projects while other students tested devices with an almost childlike excitent.
Reiji moved slowly between the booths with both hands in his pockets, calmly observing everything.
It wasn't the first ti he'd seen advanced technology. The Commission handled even more sophisticated equipnt in certain internal divisions. But even so, seeing teenagers developing this kind of thing was still quite intriguing.
"It'll be boring for you…" Shinso had said days earlier when he convinced him to co. "But the U.A. support departnt has real monsters"
And technically, he wasn't wrong.
Though that wasn't the only reason Reiji agreed to attend.
The Commission had also given him a fairly clear informal instruction:
"Observe. morize nas. Don't interfere. But if you see potential… make a note of it and let us know"
A diplomatic hunt disguised as a school visit.
Beside him, Shinso was touring the place, trying—rather unsuccessfully—to hide his genuine interest. The boy's eyes kept drifting toward various devices as he tried to maintain that indifferent facade.
"Nervous?" Reiji asked casually.
"Why would I be?"
"Because many of them will likely end up being part of the technical support that keeps future heroes alive," he replied as he examined a deployable chanical arm attached to a light suit of armor. "Or the ones who'll stop you from doing sothing stupid."
Shinso let out a small, dry laugh.
"I don't have what it takes to join the Hero Departnt."
And that was really the problem.
Not ability.
Not talent.
Confidence.
Shinso had one of the most useful and dangerous Quirks for tactical operations. So useful that even Reiji had been caught a few tis with no way out, but nevertheless, in hero society, appearances mattered, and a Quirk like that was frowned upon by society because of the manipulative power it entailed.
And Shinso knew it.
"Maybe you're thinking too much about what a hero looks like," Reiji remarked after a few seconds. "And not about what they really need to be."
Shinso looked him straight in the eye.
"...That sounded suspiciously motivational coming from you."
"An accident. Don't get used to it."
Shinso let out a brief laugh this ti, much more genuine.
They continued walking among the various booths while Reiji analyzed each project with far more attention than he let on. So were useless. Others dangerously impractical. But there were certain genuinely interesting inventions.
One of them caught his attention slightly: a neural assistance system connected to muscle reflexes via micro-electrical impulses. In short, it was a replacent for limbs or even an extra limb, like Doctor Octopus in his old world.
"That's very similar to technology used in limb rehabilitation, even limb replacent," Reiji remarked.
The student manning the booth looked at him in surprise.
"How do you know that?"
"I've read quite a bit."
Technically, it wasn't a lie.
Shinso watched him out of the corner of his eye without saying a word. He was already used to Reiji knowing far too much for his age; he was the closest thing to a genius he'd ever seen.
They kept walking a few more ters until an explosively energetic voice completely shattered the atmosphere.
"YOU!"
Both of them turned imdiately.
A girl with pink hair, huge glasses, work boots, and blue overalls covered in grease stains was practically running toward them while waving a screwdriver as if it were completely normal.
i Hatsu.
Shinso automatically took a step back as he felt the stares around them turn toward them imdiately.
"Do you know her?" he asked in a low voice.
"Unfortunately."
"I knew it was you!" i ca up in front of Reiji, pointing the screwdriver right at his face. "Although you're taller now and more visually appealing!"
"...Thanks, I guess." Reiji didn't know how to feel about that. What was "more visually appealing"?
She literally started circling him as she inspected him.
"You've definitely grown. You're also more muscular. Are you on steroids? Because if so, I need the details."
"I'm not on steroids."
"What a waste."
Shinso watched the whole scene, completely confused.
"What exactly is going on?"
i ignored him completely.
"You're officially my lucky charm!" she declared, pointing at Reiji again.
"That still sounds concerning."
"I an it!" i proudly slamd one of the nearby tables. "Rember that huge explosion where you almost got blown away years ago?"
Shinso slowly turned toward Reiji.
"What explosion?"
"A small explosion that happened a couple of months ago…"
"LIE!" i interrupted imdiately, puffing out her chest. "The lab literally lost a wall—the fire departnt and heroes showed up!"
Shinso slowly opened his eyes. Reiji just sighed, thinking there was nothing to be proud of in what had happened.
"What kind of life do you lead, exactly?"
Reiji completely ignored the question.
"That wasn't my fault; I wasn't even there when it happened—I arrived later."
"But thanks to that, I got inspired!" i continued, not listening to a word he said. "Power Loader saw the new prototype I made afterward and recomnded directly to work on advanced projects." She raised both arms proudly. "So technically, you're part of my success!"
Shinso looked at Reiji.
Then at i.
Then back at Reiji.
"Why do things like this always happen to you?"
"Because I have bad luck."
"That stopped looking like a coincidence a long ti ago."
i began frantically rummaging through tal boxes until she pulled out a small rectangular device covered in tiny buttons and transparent parts.
"Here!"
Reiji took it carefully.
"What is it?"
"A reactive assistance prototype," she explained imdiately, excitedly. "It detects micro-muscle movents and predicts body direction before the brain finishes executing the action, firing projectiles that boost your reflexes. Technically, it can increase combat reflexes by 0.4 seconds in professionals."
Shinso blinked slowly.
"...That sounds interesting."
"Exactly!"
Reiji turned the device between his fingers, examining it more closely. His reflexes were sothing he'd trained with Nagant through shooting practice, but before that, he'd been pretty weak in that area.
"What do you want in return?" he asked bluntly.
i smiled imdiately.
"Data!" She pointed at the device excitedly. "I want real feedback! Extre conditions, combat, movent, physical stress..." Her eyes practically sparkled behind her glasses. "I want to know just how much this device can handle!"
Shinso slowly began to back away half a step.
"She's scary."
"Very," Reiji replied without taking his eyes off the device.
i then rummaged through her boxes again before pulling out a makeshift tal card held together with silver tape.
"And take this too."
"What is this now?"
"My number," she replied as if it were obvious. "You can't disappear again for months after sparking a scientific breakthrough. I usually give this to investors, but I think you're a good investnt too."
"I'm not an object."
"To , I am!"
Reiji finally slipped the card into his pocket while i watched him expectantly.
"...And?" she asked.
"And what?"
"Your number."
"No."
Shinso burst out laughing imdiately.
i narrowed her eyes.
"I bet you'll call after trying it out—everyone does!"
"It depends on whether this runs out halfway through."
She watched him for just a few more seconds before smiling again.
"Then you'll survive long enough. That works too," she emphasized, quite confident in her plan.
As they both finally walked away from the booth, Shinso remained silent for several seconds before speaking.
"...A pretty cute girl just gave you her number, and you reacted as if she'd handed you a flyer."
"Jealous?"
"Very much so," he admitted imdiately. "And honestly, I'm starting to suspect there's sothing wrong with you..."
Reiji let out a small chuckle as he looked once more at the enormous gym filled with inventions and students.
For the first ti in quite a while… The atmosphere felt strangely normal.
***
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