Kapitel 8: Surely?
The moment had arrived — a night filled with restlessness and anticipation that threatened to shatter Kia's focus. After countless waking hours, she finally glimpsed a light at the end of the tunnel.
She even woke up early, well, not because she wanted to but because she mentally couldn't. The sensation was comparable to consuming caffeine late into the night.
Kia observed the street, seeing Matsuura on a casual stroll to the convenience store as if committing a crime not even a few days ago was not even worth the effort to think about.
As the sun rose, its rays reflected off Kia's hair. The sight of it surprised Matsuura, quipping, "Huh, I half expected you to not show up until after 8:00 like yesterday."
"...Did you know the old man works here overnight? Talk about dedication." she idly remarks hoping to fill the conversation.
"What reason do you think he does it? The regulars talk to him, everyone nearby knows who he is, and he gets to see someone new every so often. You know how shit life is without enjoying the things you do."
"I never thought of it that way... so… ahem?" Kia subtly rubs her fingers together, mimicking rubbing cash in between them.
"You can hardly wait." Discreetly, Matsuura passed by, slipping a piece of paper into Kia's pocket. Close to her ear, he whispered, "Did you dump everything? The likelihood of a hero possessing your description is high, and we need to erase any traces. You look way too eye-catching."
"Yep, I dumped the clothes you gave me. I'm also taking that as a compliment."
"Yeah, yeah, bask in all the glory already. I have a question while we're here. Did you exchange some kind of sexual favor with Gouger during or after the heist?"
Kia's brain short-circuited. "HA?!"
"Don't be too loud—"
"HA?!?!?! Matsuura, why the FUCK would you think that?" Kia conveniently forgets that she hinted one time about paying debts with something similar before.
Raising his arm, Matsuura gestures towards the piece of paper he handed to Kia. "Stop overreacting and get inside first and check, you'll see why."
Following his instructions, Kia hurriedly entered the store and impatiently examined the paper.
Reading the message in silence, she discovers the specified amount: 400,000 Yen. However, there was an additional 400,000 Yen that was meant for Gouger. The remaining information included an address for a dead drop and a small key.
"Christ, what the hell did he do?" Kia muttered.
"That's what I'm asking you," Matsuura replied. "You see? I'm justified thinking you've somehow convinced a man to fork over that much to—"
"Do not finish that sentence. Now that I have thought about it more, I'd rather not get with dudes."
"...Only dudes huh?" Matsuura continued. "I'll take your word for it. I still want to know how you did it."
"He's just obsessed."
"I hate to admit it, but I reached the same conclusion," Matsuura sighed. Given Gouger's peculiar fondness for Kia, it seemed plausible that he handed over his share of the heist to her. "Have you ruled out your quirk?"
"Not yet. I plan on figuring it out soon. Even then, I won't tell you what my quirk is."
"At least you're learning to keep things to yourself. It took much longer than I anticipated."
"If you have nothing else to say, let's get to work. I can't wait to finally get out of my dues."
Despite Kia's words, her desire went beyond merely clearing her debts. When the realization dawned on her that she would soon have some cash in hand, a mental itch began to form.
Curiosity, an innate human trait, was no different for Kia, who had, until now, lived in a world devoid of supernatural abilities.
The thought teased and prodded at her — what kind of quirk did she possess?
She would tell herself that she wouldn't even use it. However, as history has shown, promises and words have their limits. Not every husband stays faithful, not every politician does what they're meant to, and not all priests stick to their creed.
Kia found herself in a similar situation, attempting to avoid any encounters with villains and heroes was proving harder than expected when the entire premise of the world was to have supernatural beings inside it.
Well, she could have avoided robbing a warehouse but… it was to escape debt, wasn't it? Surely, she planned to stop after that. Surely, she wouldn't be interested in discovering her quirk. Surely... she would settle into a simple civilian life.
Perhaps being thrust into another world changes people.
No! That wouldn't happen, Kia convinced herself. It'll only be a quick quirk test, nothing major!
It had only been a few days—people don't change that quickly, right?
The day went uneventful, as expected.
Kia lacked a phone to occupy herself and found herself fidgeting from sheer boredom as she mindlessly scanned items at the convenience store. Though she swore more people came in than usual, she couldn't be entirely sure.
After bidding farewell to Tanaka, she hurried outside to claim the promised money.
"Hey, don't forget these for tonight." Matsuura handed her a paper bag containing various recording equipment and papers. After a suspicious look from Kia, Matsuura explained the small size of the given items. "Don't worry, the quality is good for the size and price."
"Where can you find these?" Kia asked, intending to buy the same thing.
"I knew you'd ask." Matsuura's smug look was particularly strong today. "I've written it inside the script I gave you, just look for it and use your eyes."
"Thanks but you're still a dick."
"Why thank you, I work hard on being phallic. You're really committed to this streaming thing, aren't you?"
Kia nodded. "Yeah, it won't be that hard." Silently, she hoped it would also distract her from the devious thoughts of deviating from a simple life.
Walking briskly, Kia followed Matsuura's directions.
Large exchanges of suspicious items, like backpacks or large sacks, would draw too much attention. Criminals often opted for more discreet methods, such as online payments. Since Kia lacked any known online accounts, she resorted to traditional means. Dead drops worked well enough — why fix what wasn't broken?
Her situation led her to obtain bills of the highest denomination, 10,000 Yen, easy to fit inside a small package with a total of 80 bills.
"Star, star, star… aha." Kia spotted a mailbox with a sticker in the bottom left corner. After looking around, she found a lockbox perpendicular to the mailbox. Using the key carefully, she opened one of the locked compartments and found a few brown envelopes inside. Kia took them and placed them in the same paper bag.
'800,000 Yen... I recall the exchange being around 100 Yen to a dollar.' Kia compared it to her previous life in the US, considering a fast-food employee's salary. '...That's maybe about 3, maybe less, months' salary for a single day. Or about 160 toasters if I buy them from Walmart.'
It was tempting to do it again.
However, Kia recalled that more popular internet personalities could make that much in a week, some even while sleeping. 'That's a lot of toasters overnight...'
Would people watch her sleep? Kia wondered. "Let's think about it when it comes to that… haha."
Staring at the envelopes in her bag, a resolute look crossed her face. "I'll do the test tomorrow."
With nothing else of importance for the day, she headed back home. Late hours were approaching and Kia preferred not to deal with villains or criminals when she had 800,000 Yen on hand.
<>
"I'm home… not that anyone is here."
One day, Kia hoped she would actually have to use that phrase. As Matsuura said, she was technically a foreigner from another country. In reality, more so from another universe.
Adjusting to cultural norms didn't come easy for an American in Japan. Kia knew about anime and watched them once in a while — okay, a lot, she would admit. However, shows and real life weren't the best sources of information. Experience was, and now Kia was immersing herself in as much as possible.
She didn't want to inadvertently reveal anything, but Matsuura had shown her that something as simple as forgetting a naming convention spoke volumes about her identity.
The door slammed shut as Kia tossed the keys to the side. "Ah, my shoes. Forgot about those."
Kia nearly stepped inside with her footwear, quickly taking them off and storing them in a nearby shoe rack before entering with indoor slippers.
"Now then, what do I need to read— holy shit!" Kia exclaimed, seeing the blocks upon blocks of text that had been written. "There's more words here than in a bible."
She glanced over the address at the top of the paper, discerning the location of a shop. "A music store? I know there are some electronics involved in music, but... did Matsuura really buy his cheap equipment here?"
Next, she meticulously checked the few pages from top to bottom. "This kind of writing reminds me of Izuku. There is a lot of analysis and even suggestions on what could be done better. The only difference is that Matsuura likes to rate villains on a scale and is harsher in his descriptions and critiques. This video of his is supposed to be 10 minutes."
Right beside the end of the last paragraph was a small note. "Don't worry about your voice; no one will know after several after-effects..."
Kia retrieved the camera and microphone from the paper bag. "Hold on, why do I need a camera if I only need my voice?"
A sticky note slipped out from the underside of the camera. Kia picked it up and read what was written. "...You need it because you'll be impersonating me providing commentary over the camera. It's hard to make the quality sound the same, so use the camera in these listed sections… P.S. Point the camera away from you so it mimics me speaking behind it. I'll edit the rest."
Even though it wasn't her own, Kia was about to experience the first time she would ever share something she created on the internet. The bed creaked as Kia prepared herself, reading over the first paragraph in anticipation.
"What do I say for the editing? Do I just start or make it clear when I begin?" After some deliberation, Kia pressed the record button. "Ahem... Coming in on three, two, one..."
<>
In a well-lit room adorned with wooden interiors, Giran rubbed his temples, the pain evident on his face. It was all due to one thing — no, one man.
Without warning, a suspicious figure had barged in, compelling him to hire villains. The man teleported, actually. The issue lay in the fact that the kind of preparation required for such a task typically took a few days at least.
"That man... expecting me to gather up a force of villains in such a short time? Not only that but to offer up such a suicidal request."
The money was good… really good. Enough to recuperate the recent losses with a single stroke. That kind of money being offered to him was no joke.
Giran asked for a big commission for connecting villains from wherever he had contacts. The mysterious figure did not hesitate to hand over millions without batting an eye. There was only the delusional, stupid, or cocky who would end up signing up which begged the reason why, and Giran knew what these villains were supposed to do.
"Killing the symbol of peace. These guys must have something up their sleeves to claim such a big headline for their recruitment."
What were the chances? He would never know until after the news covered it.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein