Both locked in the most secluded stall of the men's room, Felix leaned against the wall, waiting. It was better to let Chitose Kizuki set the pace than to blunder into a mistake. One wrong move with a woman this influential and well-known could put him in a pickle.
Though she didn't wait long to break the silence.
"Don't give me that deer-in-headlights look, Mr. Tremblay." She chortled before pressing a pen and a small notebook into his hands. "Hold these for a second, would you?"
"No voice recorder? I thought journalists lived on those things."
"You can't expect technology to do all the work for you. This is called mediocrity. And what I have is called standard~."
"A journalist with standards. Be still, my beating heart."
"Haha~! Happy to shatter your illusions." She grinned, winking at him. "First things first! I appreciate your risk-taking. I assume you've got a solid cover story ready for when they start asking questions?"
"I've taken precautions." He nodded. "Aren't you worried about them not seeing you on the balcony, though?"
"Please." She waved her hand. "There's a very convincing duplicate of me sipping champagne up there right now. A friend of mine owes me a favor."
"Ah. So the two… gentlemen screaming about Hawks were your opening act, huh."
"Someone had to grab the attention of that vulture. The timing was almost too perfect." She leaned in, tapping his shoulder with one manicured finger. "Now, your turn, Mr. Fortier. Fair's fair. You already know that the guards on that side of the building are paid impostors working for my biz. Media perks."
"Right, right… I short-circuited all the electronic equipment nearby, including the cameras. That's all you get."
"Cute. Let me demonstrate how this works." She whispered, moving her index finger left and right. "I walked straight through the wall using an associate's quirk. That way, you didn't have to sneak into the ladies' room and cause a scene. Reciprocity, darling."
"…"
"Come on." She rolled her eyes, amused. "We're on the same side here. We have the government as our mutual nemesis. Enemy of my enemy and all that."
"Fine, fine. I've got a phone that can fry circuits at range. And long story short, I also used Mirko as a decoy. Happy?"
"There we go. Was that so hard?" Her smile turned genuine. "See? That's what I call sound footing."
"…"
This woman… She was nothing like the heroines he'd crossed paths with before, but she really was like his mother. No hesitation, no heroic ideals, no filter, just a woman who knew exactly where she was going and where she wanted to go and knew which words and actions would get her there faster.
These women are—
"Relax." Chitose tapped the notebook still in his hands. "I'm only after the scoop of the century. No need to be so on guard."
"Force of habit."
"Is it?" She leaned closer, her eyes wide open. "Because I dug for days and found exactly nothing on you. Now I'm dying to hear your full story."
"Yeah…?" Felix scoffed. "Reassuring me I'm safe, then admitting you tried to dox me… Mixed signals, Ms. Kizuki."
"Hardly." She laughed under her breath. "My entire life's already online, you know? Birthplace, blood type, and last pap smear. You've got the advantage of mystery. I'm just trying to level the field."
"Well… Fair enough."
She had him there. He couldn't exactly run a background check on her without the Hero Commission noticing the search history on his monitored devices. Everything he knew about Chitose Kizuki came second-hand from Manami, and that was far too little.
Still, right now, it wasn't the thing that bothered him the most.
"Something's eating at you." Chitose tilted her head, her eyes playful. "Oh… Don't tell me it's me."
"It's… You just remind me of someone." Felix shook his head before reaching for something inside his jacket. "Proof, as requested."
She took it delicately, slid out the six grainy photos, and—
"Oh my…"
Despite the low resolution of the image, she could clearly recognize Hawks: a masked figure in black, red wings, and red feathers, slashing across Felix.
"That's really Hawks."
"You thought I was bluffing?"
"A healthy dose of skepticism comes with the job." She flipped through the photos, her smile growing wider. "There's a video, isn't there?"
"Yes."
"Hand it over?"
"No."
"Well then, give me a moment to come up with a persuasive counteroffer, then." She said, pressing a finger to her chin, mock-thinking. "Any lingering injuries? Or maybe medical reports—"
Felix unbuttoned his shirt just enough, peeled back the edge of a bandage, and showed her the fresh stitches across his chest.
"Hehe~. Perfect, absolutely perfect. Divine, indeed. Perfect for what we need."
"What "we" need?"
"Well, do not get ahead of yourself. Instead, picture this: a secluded forest cabin at golden hour, light filtering through the trees, barely audible post-rock in the background… You, voice breaking as you recount the horrors you survived, tears in your eyes, while I offer a comforting shoulder. The most devastating, sexy, heart-wrenching interview in history—"
"I ain't against it, but… you're daydreaming in the crapper right now."
"Don't ruin my fun with your pragmatic little flair, will you, darling?"
"…"
Felix sighed. Another unhinged woman. Of course. He was a weird girl magnet, after all.
He just couldn't escape this fate. Wherever he goes, he ends up meeting this kind of woman and strikes deals with them, for better or for worse. A benediction and a curse.
Anyway, after edging her so much about the info she wanted, he finally decided to give her what she wanted to hear, giving her a few details about how the Hero Commission treated him, what they did, and what he thought were their future plans. That said, he omitted quite a few essential parts of the story. Basically, he gave her enough to keep her hungry, but not enough to let her run the whole story without him.
It was important to keep her on her toes until the time came for his real interview, after all.
But still, it seemed like she was waiting for more.
"Don't give me that deer-in-headlights look, Ms. Kizuki." He shrugged, smirking. "I told you what you wanted, no?"
"You're withholding valuable information, I know it. I recognise the way interviewees look when they're trying not to reveal everything."
"You know, only mosquitoes are this stubborn."
"I can hand you ¥200,000 in cash right now. Mosquitoes can't do that."
"I'm not hurting for money."
"Hk! You do not understand how much I need this information…! It's not just for me, but for all my associates… For all believers…! If we can single out the Hero Commission fast, there is still hope for an organised but freed world, but if we wait too much…"
"Listen… I understand you have your own goals, but put yourself in my shoes. If I tell you everything, I'll have laid almost all my cards on the table for you. It's a bit harsh to ask me that, 'cause it's just a leap of faith for me, but a guarantee for you."
"I…"
"You can still contact me anyway—"
"I…!"
"The fuck are you doing…?"
In the cramped space of the stall, Chitose Kizuki, the renowned head of Shoowaysha Publishing, was prostrating herself in front of him. Or rather, it was more than prostration; it was something called dogeza.
"Come on…" He muttered, trying to get her to stand up. "G-Get up."
"No."
"Don't be stup—"
"P-Please, in exchange for s-sex with me, tell me everything I want to know." She stuttered, sacrificing part of her pride. "My dream… Our dream, the believers dream, is likely within reach thanks to the information you can provide. I won't let this opportunity pass me by. I… I have never backed down from a good story ever since my first year in this biz… So I hope you understand, Mr. Tremblay, that I will strip you bare."
"…"
"…"
"…Are you hearing yourself?"
"Sacrifices must be made for the greater good." She muttered, still prostrated. "If my dignity must be trampled on, then so be it."
"…"
"Trample my dignity. Defile me. Spit on my boyfriend's trust and love. Use me so the world can be one step closer to being reborn."
This chick was crazy.
What did he have to lose? If he fucked her, he'd probably have her under his thumb for later. After all, he could make anyone addicted to him, even if the attraction was purely sexual and couldn't give rise to any real soulful feelings… only mutual experience could do that.
Besides, she was pretty damn good-looking and… and…
"Your silence sounds like consent, Mr. Tremblay." She hummed, standing back before moving her body close to his, pressing him against the wall, and touching his bulge. "You're quite hard for someone who's so hesitant."
"…You like playing with fire…"
"Aren't you a lady's man, Mr. Tremblay? You're not one to be timid." Chitose leaned in, one eye closed, her palm against his cheek. Her lips brushed his, waiting for him. "For you to act like that, you must be quite nervous."
"—!"
"Oh…!"
—Mom… Today… Today I met someone who reminds me so much of you… And this is bad for me, but…
The moment this thought crossed his mind, something snapped. That old, taboo memory flooded back: his first time, wrong in every way, but so fucking good it still made his cock throb years later… All the restraint he'd built, all the control over his quirk, cracked for just a second.
"Fucking slut…!"
Felix pinned her hard against the wall, his lips meeting hers again. At first, Chitose let out a startled squeak, but she accepted him the instant his tongue invaded her mouth. She asked for it, after all. And so, she agreed to melt under his touch just for a while; hence, she sucked on his tongue, swirling hers around like she'd been starving for it.
All the while, his knee was shoved between her thighs, pressing up against the heat emanating through her dress. Even through the fabric, he could feel how soaked she already was.
—She's already like that, and I didn't use any hormones… Yet… Guess she likes the thrill of doing it here.
"Mr. Tremblay… Do your best." She whimped into the kiss, her hips already rocking against his leg. "Mmm…"
Well then, he won't play gently. Hand sliding down, he grabbed a fistful of her dress and yanked it up to her waist. Black silk panties clung to her pussy, her crotch dark and glistening because of how wet she was.
"Let me help." She breathed while guiding his hand herself, slipping his fingers under the waistband. "Plea—"
"Shut up."
He sank two fingers straight into that hot and damp mess of a place that was her cunt. She was drenched, clenching around him the second he pushed inside.
"What a freak." He muttered close to her ear, removing his hand from her mouth before taking her left ear between his fingers, finally caressing it with his thumb. "Are you that desperate for sex?"
"I-I am that desperate to have all the details of your story."
"Eh. Is that really what gets you going? You're weird."
He didn't ease her into it at all. Instead, he drove his middle and ring even deeper, faster, rougher. Every thrust made a wet squelch. Her inner walls fluttered around his fingers, trying to suck him in deeper. When she got close, he slowed just enough to make her whine, then fingered back in harder.
"F-Fuck~…"
"Look at you. Your pussy's begging for it."
Biting her lower lip, she looked at him, both irritatedly and waitingly.
"No worries, Ms. Kizuki. All of that is for the dream world to finally materialize, no?"
"Don't mock… Destro's ideology…"
"I ain't mocking anything." He chortled, leaving his finger deep inside her. "More so, I want to see you squirt. Can you do that for me?"
"S-Squirt?"
"Don't tell me your loser boyfriend can't get you to squirt when you gush so much just by getting fingered…"
"He's a life partner… Not a sex f-friend…"
"See, assuming sex is unimportant to have a good and working couple is a lot of people's worst blunder. Maybe re-learn Maslow's hierarchy of needs."
Leaving her no time to reply, he hooked his fingers hard against that swollen spot inside her and worked it mercilessly, palm grinding against her clit. At the same time, he flooded her system with a shot of meta-oxytocin and meta-dopamine, the kind that turned a good orgasm into something that wrecked you.
"Aa—!" Her cry of pleasure got muffled by Felix's hand. "Hmmmmf—!"
As a small jet of love juice flowed from her pussy, her eyes rolled back, she broke the kiss, and struggled to stay standing. However… he knew she had more in her. As her orgasm was only just beginning, he jerked her pussy left to right before slapping it several times.
"Hmm! Fuhhh! Hmmph! Hm!"
It was too much sensory overload for her, and a thick and clear jet of love juice jutted out of her cunt, causing her legs to stiffen uncontrollably before giving out, letting her fall to the ground, her ass landing in a puddle of her own making.
"I guess you assumed I would cum real fast and everything would end up in five minutes?"
Felix crouched, hooked his fingers under the waistband of her panties, and dragged them down her shaking legs. The fabric clung to her pussy for a second before peeling away with a wet sound.
"Alright…"
He balled the drenched silk in his fist and shoved it straight into her open mouth.
"Ms. Kizuki, hold that for me. Taste how bad you wanted this."
Chitose moaned around the gag, but despite her watering eyes, she didn't fight it.
He put her back on her feet, grabbed the side of her panties still in her mouth for leverage, and yanked her head back with it before lining his cock in front of her pussy. With one brutal thrust, he buried himself entirely into her as her muffled moans vibrated her wet panties.
"You asked for it." He whispered. "So I won't go easy, you know?"
"Shoo yoo worsh…"
"Eh."
Nah. Like he said, he didn't ease in at all. He fucked her like he was trying to punish her, hips slamming forward, balls slapping against her ass. Every stroke dragged the panties tighter, almost jerking her head back farther, forcing her to look up at him while he used her.
It was through this degenerate eye contact that her second orgasm hit her…
"Fuck…! You cum way too fast…" He grunted. "Maybe your body is letting you know that you need to stop obsessing about work and treat yourself sometimes?"
"S-Shis ish i-imposshible…"
"If you say so."
While saying that, her pussy clamped down so hard he had to fight to keep moving. A thick jet of juice sprayed around his cock, soaking his shirt and the floor beneath them. He didn't slow, though. He pounded through it, feeling her spasm again and again, each squirt weaker than the last but still gushing.
"Fuck, keep coming…" He moaned. "You asked to be defiled, so milk my dick…!"
And she did. Four, five times in quick succession, her body jerking again and again, until finally there was nothing left. The last climax only squeezed out a few drops that dribbled down her thighs.
He let go of the panties, yanked them from her mouth, and as he did so, she fell to the floor. She was limp, face pressed to the wet tile, ass in the air.
"Tempting me again, huh?"
He drove back in, one hand on the back of her neck pinning her down, the other gripping her hip hard enough to bruise.
"T-The i-information… I w-want all t-the i-infomation…"
"Yeah, yeah, let me just finish."
He pulled out at the last second, flipped her over again, and straddled her chest. Three rough strokes and he came hard, thick ropes painting her face, her open mouth, dripping off her chin onto her tits.
He stayed there a moment, breathing hard, watching his cum slide down her cheeks.
Chitose licked her lips, swallowed what she could, and smiled up at him.
"W-Well… The s-story's not over y-yet, Mr. Tremblay."
"You're still responsive, I'm impressed."
He thought she would need to breathe a bit, but maybe she was more accustomed to selling her ass in exchange for favor that she let on. If that was the case, she really was like his mom.
Exhaling, Felix shook his haze to get rid of his post-nut clarity, and took back the discarded notebook before writing some stuff inside it: all the information she asked for. He could very well lie, not write everything, but if she ever learned he didn't disclose all the info at his disposal despite Chitose doing all of this for it, there was a big possibility he would end up on the media and be called a rapist or something close to it.
She was the chief of a whole media, after all.
This would be the end of the road.
So, having this in mind…
"There… Everything I know…" He nodded, giving everything to her. "Plus, the USB stick with the video on it. There's... other information in it that you might like, but I won't tell you how I got some of this info, though. So suck it up."
"Thank you."
"It was part of the deal."
"You had a USB stick already on hand." She smiled genuinely again, seemingly understanding something. "Did you trick me into all of this?"
"More or less… I never expected you to offer me your body, though."
"Lucky you and lucky me, then. It wasn't so bad, isn't it?" She winked, before pointing at a line he had written in the notebook. "This part right here, can you at least explain a bit?"
"There's nothing to explain."
"There is. You wrote that after losing Hawks, the Hero Commission secretly talked about… Code Tartarus?"
"Ah, this. I dunno, to be honest… but I have a vague idea of what it might be. I'll let you think about it, though. We can talk about it later." He muttered while he helped her clean herself. "Sorry to leave like that, but I need to get a move on. I was only supposed to be here to take a leak…"
"I-It's perfectly fine… My subordinates were supposed to discreetly guard the place for 15 minutes, and... it must be over 20 now, so you can go… I'll call you soon to have a proper talk later on."
"Alright… But next time you want things to end fast to avoid suspicion, don't ask me to fuck you."
—What the fuck am I saying… I'm the one who lost control…
"Dangerous indeed, but in the end…" She smiled provocatively before pushing the cum on her face on her tongue. "We both got what we wanted, right?"
Both got what they wanted, huh? Her eyes clearly indicated she spoke about something else than just information or sex. She spoke about something else entirely… Did she knew more about him that she let on? Had she managed to find something about him when she tried doxing him?
If so, then… she had willingly agreed to jump into the lion's den while knowing what the lion was capable of, and so, the only answer he was able to muster before leaving, was—
"I guess…"
Taking a final look at her disheveled state before going out of the stall and closing the door, he shut his eyes as if to burn this picture of her under his eyelids.
She… She really was just like his mom.
He was supposed to be the one making the other addicted to him, not the one getting addicted to a single woman. How nostalgic.
Still, he did not think it was a mistake to have fucked her, but he knew that he would tend to drop his guard with this woman, so he needed to avoid meeting her. It was simply the result of grooming by his mother since his infancy.
No matter how hard he tried to pull away from it, it was sometimes too difficult for him to break free from what had been the basis of his first "love" and first sexual experiences. One misstep, and he ended up doing what his mom once would have asked of him. And if he had followed his grooming, he would have choked Chitose Kizuki while fucking her, just as his mother used to beg him to do when he was a child.
Although he'd sworn not to dwell on his old life, here he was, musing over it. He walked away, leering at the floor, gulped hard, and delved into the maze that is his heart, a place where bitterness, vindictiveness, fortitude, vulnerabilities, hope, and hedonism dwell, and found a new drive.
—Well done, Mom… Even though you're no longer here, you still got me imprisoned…
A psychological prison. Something he will have to eventually break out of. A prison built by his family, his past. A prison of his own making… His own Tartarus.