Location: The Osaka Shield Agency – Underground Training Room
Date: Two Weeks Later
THWACK.
A heavy concrete ball slammed directly into Fat Gum's massive chest.
CRACK.
A second one hit him right in the shoulder.
Fat Gum slid back a few inches on the rubber mats.
"Ugh"
He grunted, dropping his stance. He threw a heavy right hook at the thick steel target plate hanging from the ceiling.
BAM.
HUFF-PUFF.
The steel rattled loudly, but it didn't bend.
Fat Gum exhaled a long, heavy breath.
As the air left his lungs, his massive stomach noticeably deflated.
SKRRT.
The bright yellow hoodie he wore suddenly looked two sizes too big for him. He was already getting skinny.
He bent over, resting his hands on his knees, panting hard. Sweat dripped from his chin onto the mat.
"I lost it," Fat Gum groaned. "I burned it all on the swing."
Thirty feet away, Kaito was sitting casually on a wooden shipping crate.
He had a hot cup of coffee in his hand and a clipboard resting on his knee.
"You burned it because you are still acting like a sponge, Taishiro," Kaito said, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I'm trying, man," Fat Gum complained, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm. "But it's hard to focus on internal physics when my brain is fried. I was out on the streets until four in the morning last night busting a Trigger deal down by the docks. I'm exhausted."
Kaito smiled a little. He set his coffee down.
"I know you're tired," Kaito said. "And the streets don't care if you didn't sleep. That's why we need to fix this habit. Right now, when that concrete ball hits you, you are letting the impact slosh around your entire body. Your chest, your legs, your back. It takes way too much energy to hold it all together."
Fat Gum stood up straight, trying to catch his breath. "So what do I do? It naturally spreads out."
"Force it," Kaito told him, pointing at his own arm. "Stop being a sponge and act like a pipe. Flex your core tight when you get hit, but totally relax your arms. Give the kinetic energy exactly one place to go. Push it straight down the pipe into your knuckles."
Before Fat Gum could answer, the heavy metal door at the back of the basement pushed open.
"Boss, I swear to God, if I have to eat another bowl of heavy tonkotsu ramen today, I'm going to actually explode."
Kenjiro walked into the room. He was wearing his white cook's apron, and his stomach looked completely bloated. He was rubbing his belly, looking miserable.
Fat Gum laughed, his tired mood instantly lifting. "Rough lunch rush upstairs?"
"You have no idea," Kenjiro groaned, walking over to the mats. "The restaurant was packed. I had to eat six massive bowls in the kitchen just to build up the calorie reserve for your training session today. I feel like a walking grease trap."
"Well, give it here," Fat Gum grinned, turning his back to Kenjiro. "I'm running on empty."
Kenjiro reached out and slapped his hand hard between Fat Gum's shoulder blades.
FWHIII.
A faint yellow light glowed around Kenjiro's hand.
SIGH.
Fat Gum let out a loud, satisfied sigh. His body physically swelled up, his stomach pushing the yellow hoodie tight again.
The exhaustion vanished from his face as thousands of raw calories dumped directly into his system.
Kenjiro instantly deflated, looking completely relieved.
"Oh man," Kenjiro breathed out, rolling his shoulders. "I feel so much better. I can actually see my feet again."
"Catch!" a girl's voice called out from the stairs.
Mari jogged down into the basement. She dug into her pocket and tossed a tiny, matchbook-sized plastic container right at Fat Gum.
THUMP.
He caught it easily with his huge hand.
"What's on the menu today, Mari?" Fat Gum asked, looking at the tiny box.
"Forty pounds of compressed beef curry and rice," Mari smiled proudly. "I made it extra spicy today. Figured you needed something to wake you up after that late night patrol."
"You two are the absolute best," Fat Gum laughed, shoving the tiny box into his pocket for later.
Kaito watched the three of them banter. He picked his coffee back up. He didn't interrupt right away.
He liked seeing the agency act like a real, functioning family. It meant the restaurant cover was keeping them grounded.
"Alright, break time is over," Kaito finally called out. "Kenjiro, Mari, clear the blast zone. Taishiro, get back on the line."
Kenjiro and Mari quickly jogged over to the safe side of the room behind Kaito.
Fat Gum stepped back onto the center mat. He rolled his neck, cracking it loudly. He looked focused.
"Give it to me, Kaito," Fat Gum said, raising his massive fists.
Kaito picked up the remote. "Act like a pipe. Let's go."
CLICK.
The pitching machines roared to life.
BAM. BAM.
Two solid concrete balls shot out across the room.
Fat Gum didn't flinch.
THUD. THUD.
The concrete slammed into his chest. Fat Gum closed his eyes.
He squeezed his stomach muscles as hard as he could, locking down his core. He kept his arms completely loose.
He pictured the impact. He forced the raw kinetic energy out of his chest and pushed it down his arms.
Suddenly, his huge knuckles started to glow. A violent, bright orange heat radiated from his hands.
"I got it!" Fat Gum yelled. "It's in the hands!"
"Then hit the plate!" Kaito yelled back.
Fat Gum stepped forward, twisting his hips, and threw a massive right punch.
CLAAAANG.
His glowing fist hit the thick steel target. The noise was deafening. The entire plate violently bent inward, warping the heavy metal like it was made of cheap tin foil.
Fat Gum stepped back quickly, looking down at his stomach.
He was still huge. He had lost a tiny bit of mass around the edges, but his main armor was still completely intact.
He didn't turn skinny.
"Look at that!" Fat Gum cheered, turning around with a huge smile. "I kept it! I actually kept the fat!"
"That's exactly what I wanted to see," Kaito nodded, looking genuinely impressed. "It isn't a hundred percent perfect yet, but you just bent solid steel and you still have enough armor to take another hit. You'll perfect the ratio out on the streets."
"That punch was insane, Boss!" Kenjiro yelled from the back.
"Okay, settle down," Kaito said, grabbing a different remote from his crate. "That covers the heavy hitters. Now we deal with the runners. We are moving to Adhesion."
Fat Gum groaned, his smile dropping.
"Already? Come on, my knuckles are still smoking!"
"Villains don't wait for you to cool down," Kaito said simply.
BZZZZZT.
Three small, custom-built training drones dropped from a compartment in the ceiling.
They immediately started darting around the room, moving incredibly fast. They buzzed like angry hornets.
"Sticky fat, Taishiro," Kaito ordered, pointing at the drones. "Change your surface tension. If you try to punch them, you lose."
"I know, I know," Fat Gum muttered. He raised his hands, tracking the fast-moving machines.
One of the drones zipped right at his face.
Fat Gum's natural brawler instinct took over. He swung his massive hand to swat it out of the air.
SWISH.
He completely missed. The drone was way too fast.
ZAP.
The drone hit him in the shoulder, delivering a low-level electric shock before zipping away again.
"Ow! Hey!" Fat Gum yelled, rubbing his arm.
Another drone dove at his knees. He tried to kick it.
ZAP.
"Dammit!" Fat Gum growled, getting frustrated.
He started wildly swinging his arms, trying to grab the drones out of the air, but they just easily dodged his massive hands and kept stinging him.
"Taishiro, stop!" Kaito yelled over the buzzing.
Fat Gum stopped swinging, breathing hard. "They move way too fast, Kaito! I can't catch them!"
"Because you are acting like a striker," Kaito said, putting his remote down. "You are trying to swat a fly. You are too big and too slow to swat a fly."
Fat Gum frowned. "Then how do I stop them?"
"Don't swat the fly," Kaito told him directly. "Be like a flypaper."
"...."
Fat Gum blinked. He looked down at his own chest, then back up at the drones buzzing near the ceiling.
"Let them come to you," Kaito instructed. "Stop fighting back. Just stand there. When they make contact, change the tension of your skin."
Fat Gum let out a breath. He dropped his hands to his sides. He widened his stance and completely relaxed his upper body.
"Alright," Fat Gum muttered to himself. "Flypaper."
One of the drones recognized he stopped moving.
It locked onto his chest and dove down at top speed, ready to shock him again.
Fat Gum didn't raise his hands. He just stared right at it.
Right as the plastic casing of the drone touched his yellow hoodie, Fat Gum flexed.
SQUELCH.
The drone didn't bounce off. It didn't deliver a shock. It just sank a few inches right into Fat Gum's stomach.
The little machine completely stopped moving forward.
WHIZRR.
The tiny propellers whined loudly, spinning at max speed as the drone tried to pull itself backward. It couldn't.
It was totally stuck in the fat, like a bug trapped in tree sap.
Fat Gum looked down at the trapped drone buzzing helplessly against his chest.
A slow grin spread across his face.
He casually reached down, grabbed the stuck drone with one hand, and crushed it into pieces.
"Oh... oh man," Fat Gum laughed loudly, tossing the broken plastic onto the floor. "The street runners are going to absolutely hate me for this."
"That's the whole point," Kaito smirked, picking his coffee back up. "Take a ten-minute breather, Taishiro. Then we go again."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Rented Greenhouse Lab, Tokyo
Date: Two Weeks Later
BUBBLE. BUBBLE.
Thick, dark green sap boiled inside a large metal tub in the middle of the room.
The rented greenhouse was incredibly hot and humid. The air felt heavy.
Kamui Woods was sitting cross-legged right in the middle of the tub. He was wearing his hero pants, but his chest and arms were completely bare.
The sticky sap covered his skin, soaking deep into his wooden pores.
He looked absolutely miserable.
"Arisaka..." Kamui groaned, pinching his nose shut with two wooden fingers. "This smells terrible. It smells like burnt rubber and rotten eggs mixed together."
Kaito was sitting on a folding chair a few feet away, wearing a plain black t-shirt. He had a small industrial blowtorch resting on his knee.
"It's supposed to soak into you, not smell good," Kaito said.
The heavy glass door of the greenhouse pushed open.
Yuna Morita stepped inside.
She was holding a stack of budget papers and covering her face with a cheap white paper mask.
"Ugh!" Yuna gagged, waving her hand in front of her face. "Boss, the smell is leaking into the main hallway. And please tell me this receipt is wrong. Did we really spend this much money on a barrel of tree sap?"
"It's highly specialized fire-retardant," Kaito said, taking the receipt from her and signing it. "It's an investment."
Daiki Chiba poked his head in right behind Yuna. He was pinching his nose too.
"Hey, Shinji," Daiki called out. "You smell so bad that every pigeon within a three-block radius just abandoned their nests. I have zero camera angles right now. The birds are completely gone."
"Just give me ten more minutes!" Kamui yelled back, looking embarrassed. "I can feel it soaking into my arms now."
"Good," Kaito stood up. He grabbed the blowtorch. "Let's see if it actually works."
CLICK.
FWOOSH.
A bright blue flame shot out of the torch nozzle.
Kaito didn't give a warning. He just stepped forward and shoved the open flame directly against Kamui's bare forearm.
"Ah!" Kamui yelled.
His survival instincts completely took over. He panicked.
For his entire life, fire meant agonizing pain and death.
He flinched hard, violently jerking his arm back and squeezing his eyes shut.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Kamui shouted, bracing for the terrible burning sensation.
But the pain never came.
Kamui slowly opened one eye.
Kaito was still holding the blowtorch right against his wooden skin. The blue flame was blasting his arm.
But his arm wasn't catching fire. It wasn't even turning black. The green sap locked inside his pores was completely rejecting the heat.
"Whoa," Daiki muttered from the doorway, his eyes going wide.
"Are you kidding me?" Kamui whispered. He reached over with his other hand and touched his arm right next to the flame. "It's not even hot. It feels normal."
"Your natural weakness is gone," Kaito said, turning the torch off and tossing it onto a nearby table. "You don't need to be afraid of street thugs with lighters anymore. Get out of the tub. Wash it off. We need to test your density."
Kamui hopped out of the tub right away. He grabbed a heavy towel and quickly wiped the excess green slime off his chest and face.
Kaito pointed to a massive stack of solid concrete cinder blocks stacked on the dirt floor.
"Break those," Kaito ordered. "I want you to use the Iron-Wood."
Kamui tossed the towel aside. He squared his shoulders and faced the concrete. He took a breath.
Out of pure habit from years of street patrols, Kamui moved fast. He whipped his right arm forward to grow a branch.
SWISH.
A thick wooden branch shot out of his arm and slammed into the concrete blocks.
CRACK.
"Gah!" Kamui cried out, grabbing his arm.
The wood shattered instantly. Splinters flew everywhere. The concrete blocks didn't even chip.
Kamui fell to one knee, holding his broken branch. He was gritting his teeth in pain.
"You rushed it," Kaito said, walking over to him. "You are still fighting like a capture hero, Shinji. You just threw a standard, hollow branch at a brick wall."
"I... I tried to compress it," Kamui groaned, standing back up slowly.
"You prioritized speed over density," Kaito corrected him. He pointed at Kamui's arm. "When you rush, the wood grows fast but hollow. I don't care if the branch comes out slow. Stop rushing. Squeeze the fibers tightly inside your arm before you push them out into the open air."
Kamui nodded, rubbing his shoulder. He took a deep breath and faced the blocks again.
He planted his feet. He didn't whip his arm this time. He held it steady.
He focused all his energy on the inside of his forearm, squeezing the wooden fibers together as hard as he physically could.
CREAAAK.
The sound was totally different. It sounded like a heavy oak tree bending in a storm.
A new branch slowly pushed out of his skin. It wasn't light brown. It was incredibly dark. It looked heavy. It looked like a solid piece of forged steel.
Kamui strained, his face turning red from the sheer effort of holding the density together.
He pulled the heavy Iron-Wood branch back and swung it like a baseball bat.
SMASH.
The Iron-Wood plowed right through the stack of cinder blocks. The concrete absolutely exploded. Heavy chunks of gravel and dust blasted across the greenhouse.
The Iron-Wood branch didn't even have a scratch on it.
"Holy crap," Yuna gasped from the doorway, dropping her budget papers.
Kamui didn't celebrate. The second the blocks broke, the Iron-Wood retracted, and Kamui completely collapsed onto the dirt.
HUFF. PUFF.
He was on his hands and knees, gasping for air like he just ran a marathon. Sweat poured down his face.
"That takes... everything," Kamui panted, staring at the dirt. "It drains my stamina so fast."
"Raw power costs energy," Kaito said, handing him a cold bottle of water. "You can't spam it. Save the Iron-Wood for the heavy hitters who try to break your bindings. Drink that. Then put your mask on."
Kamui drank half the water in one gulp. He stood up, his legs shaking a little bit. He walked over to the table and picked up his brand new hero mask. It was carved from wood, but the mouthpiece was a heavy, Detnerat-Shield grade respirator.
He strapped it tightly to his face.
Kaito grabbed a black gas mask and pulled it over his own head. He pointed to a heavy steel training dummy standing in the corner of the room.
"I loaded the medical capsules into the ridges of your arms," Kaito's muffled voice came through the mask. "Wrap the dummy with your Iron-Wood and crush them."
Kamui nodded. He threw his arms forward.
He didn't rush. He grew the dense Iron-Wood, wrapping thick, heavy branches around the steel dummy. He locked the wood together.
"Squeeze," Kaito ordered.
Kamui flexed his arms, tightening the heavy branches around the metal.
POP. POP. POP.
The intense friction instantly crushed the tiny capsules hidden inside his wood.
HISS.
A massive cloud of thick, dark green sleep gas blasted out of the branches. It exploded outward, completely engulfing the dummy and Kamui Woods in a matter of seconds.
Kamui stood right in the middle of the thick green fog.
"Whaa!?"
He panicked. His eyes went wide behind his wooden mask. He immediately held his breath, terrified that he was about to knock himself out cold.
His lungs started to burn. He couldn't hold his breath forever.
Kamui finally gasped, sucking in a huge lungful of air.
He waited to fall over.
Nothing happened.
The air tasting clean. The respirator built into his mask was perfectly filtering the heavy sleep gas. He wasn't dizzy at all.
Kamui looked at his own hands through the green fog. He realized how terrifying this combo really was.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Yuna was pounding her fists against the heavy glass door of the greenhouse. She had pulled her shirt up over her nose.
"Hey!" Yuna yelled, her voice muffled through the glass. "Turn on the exhaust fans! The gas is leaking under the door! Open a window before Daiki and I pass out in the hallway!"
_-_-_-_-_-
Location: Fukuoka Shipping Docks
Date: 1.5 Months Later (Six Weeks After Training)
The night air was cold and damp. The docks were completely silent except for the sound of waves hitting the pier.
A group of seven villains stood around a massive wooden crate. They were heavily armed.
"Hurry up and load the Trigger," the boss whispered harshly. He had a mutation quirk that made him look like a giant lizard. "The boat leaves in ten minutes."
"We're going as fast as we can," a skinny villain complained, picking up a metal briefcase full of the illegal drug vials.
THUD.
A massive figure dropped down from the roof of a nearby warehouse and landed right in front of them. The concrete cracked under his weight.
Fat Gum stood up to his full height. He grinned, cracking his huge knuckles.
"Hey there, boys," Fat Gum said loudly. "Nice night for a boat ride. Too bad the tickets are sold out."
"It's Fat Gum!" the skinny villain yelled, dropping the briefcase. "Light him up!"
A villain with a speed quirk didn't waste time. He moved like a blur, rushing straight at Fat Gum. He threw a super-fast, full-power punch right at Fat Gum's stomach.
"Got you, fat man!" the speedster yelled.
SQUELCH.
The villain fist sank deep into the yellow hoodie.
He tried to pull his arm back to throw another punch, but he couldn't move. His arm was completely stuck.
"What the hell?" he panicked, pulling frantically. "Let go of me!"
"Sorry," Fat Gum laughed, flexing his stomach. "I'm a little sticky today."
Fat Gum raised his right hand. His knuckles began to glow with a bright, terrifying orange heat.
He didn't even pull his arm back. He just tapped the speedster on the head.
BAM.
The kinetic energy released instantly. The speedster's eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed to the ground, completely out cold.
"Shoot him!" the lizard boss screamed.
A huge thug stepped forward. He took a deep breath and blasted a massive wave of solid fire right out of his mouth.
The flames completely engulfed Fat Gum.
"Yeah! Burn him down!" the thug cheered.
The fire died down. The smoke cleared.
Fat Gum was still standing there. He wasn't burned. He wasn't even sweating. He had just absorbed the extreme temperature right into his insulation.
"Man, that felt good," Fat Gum smiled. "I was getting a little cold out here."
Fat Gum pushed the thermal energy straight into his fists.
Both of his hands lit up like heavy lanterns. He stepped forward, moving surprisingly fast for a guy his size.
He threw one punch at the fire thug, and one punch at the lizard boss.
CRACK. CRACK.
The kinetic impacts sounded like gunshots. Both villains were thrown backwards through the air, crashing into the wooden crates and instantly passing out.
The rest of the thugs took one look at the glowing, unstoppable giant and completely surrendered, dropping to their knees with their hands up.
Fat Gum looked down at his belly. He was still fully round. He hadn't lost a single pound of mass.
"Kaito is really good," Fat Gum whispered to himself, grinning from ear to ear.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Shinjuku District, Tokyo
Date: The Next Morning
Sirens wailed in the distance.
A crew of four bank robbers ran down a crowded street, shoving civilians out of the way. They were carrying heavy bags of cash.
"Keep moving! The alley is right there!" the leader yelled, holding a black-market Detnerat assault rifle.
SWISH.
A dark shadow dropped from the skyscraper above them.
Kamui Woods landed perfectly in front of the alley entrance, blocking their escape. He was wearing his new respirator mask.
"End of the line," Kamui said calmly.
"It's just the tree guy! Cut him down!" the leader shouted. He raised the heavy rifle and pulled the trigger.
RAT-TAT-TAT.
Bullets flew at Kamui.
Kamui didn't dodge. He just raised his right arm and quickly grew a thick shield of iron-wood.
CLINK. CLINK. CLINK.
The bullets hit the dark wood and bounced off harmlessly. They couldn't even dent the compressed fibers.
The robbers stopped shooting, staring in shock. Normal wood was supposed to shatter under gunfire.
Kamui didn't wait for them to reload. He threw his left arm forward.
"Pre-emptive Binding!" Kamui shouted.
Heavy, dark iron-wood branches shot forward, wrapping around all four robbers in a split second.
The wood tightened, locking them together in a brutal, unbreakable cage.
"Ah! I can't move!" one of the robbers yelled, struggling against the wood.
The leader managed to get his right arm free. He pulled a cheap plastic lighter out of his pocket and flicked it on.
He shoved the open flame right against the wooden branch holding his chest.
"Burn, you stupid tree!" the leader yelled.
The flame licked the wood. Nothing happened. The fire-retardant sap completely ignored the heat.
Kamui just looked at him.
"My turn," Kamui said.
He flexed his arms, tightening the iron-wood binding just a fraction of an inch.
POP. POP.
The friction crushed the hidden capsules.
HISS.
A thick cloud of green sleep spores blasted right into the faces of the four robbers.
"What is... this..." the leader mumbled. His eyes immediately rolled back.
Within five seconds, all four men were fast asleep, snoring loudly inside the wooden cage.
Kamui stood there in the green cloud, breathing perfectly fine through his new mask.
The fight was over in less than thirty seconds. He hadn't damaged a single car or building.
Back at The Thicket Agency office, Yuna Morita was sitting at her desk.
She was watching the news report of Kamui's arrest on her computer monitor. She saw him easily take down the armed crew without causing a single yen of property damage.
RING. RING.
She picked up her desk phone.
"The Thicket Agency, Yuna speaking," she said cheerfully.
"Yes, hello," a crisp corporate voice said. "This is the marketing director for Tokyo Green Energy. We just saw Kamui Woods' arrest on the news. We want to commit to the Reforestation pledge. We are prepared to sponsor his agency for two million yen a month if he wears our logo on his shoulder."
Yuna covered the mouthpiece with her hand and silently screamed in joy.
She cleared her throat and put the phone back to her ear. "We would be happy to discuss a partnership, sir. Let me send you the contract."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Naruhata District – Kaito's Apartment
Date: Friday | 10:00 PM
Kaito sat at his small kitchen table. He was wearing gray sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt.
His laptop was open in front of him. He was scrolling through the official Hero Billboard rankings.
A small smile formed on his face.
Fat Gum and Kamui Woods were shooting straight up the charts.
The corporate money was flowing in Tokyo, and Fat Gum's restaurant intel was cleaning up the streets in Osaka.
SIP.
Kaito took a sip of his coffee. He felt great. Managing two rising stars at the exact same time was a breeze.
The system was running perfectly on autopilot now.
BZZZZT. BZZZZT.
His personal cell phone vibrated on the table.
He glanced at the caller ID. Uwabami.
Kaito picked it up. "Arisaka speaking."
"Kaito, darling!" Uwabami's voice came through the speaker. She sounded incredibly relaxed, like she was holding a glass of wine. "I hope I'm not calling too late."
"Not at all. How are things in Tokyo?" Kaito asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Absolutely wonderful," Uwabami laughed softly. "I just closed three massive High-Bounty Retrieval contracts this week. And the best part? I didn't even have to leave my penthouse. I am making more money than I ever have, and I don't have to ruin my hair getting muddy in the rain."
"Glad to hear the system is holding up for you," Kaito smiled.
"Oh, it's holding up alright," Uwabami said. "Some of these street brawlers are practically doing the arrests for free while I collect the finder's fee."
"If you're making that much money, I should probably retroactively double my consulting fee," Kaito joked.
"Don't be greedy, Arisaka," Uwabami teased back. "But seriously, I'm not just calling to brag. I want to formally thank you. I want to take you out to dinner next week. High-end, very private. Just the two of us. My treat."
Kaito thought about it. A nice dinner date in Tokyo to enjoy some free time sounded pretty good right now.
"Send me the time and the place," Kaito said. "I'll be there."
"Perfect. Dress nicely, Kaito. See you soon."
CLICK.
Kaito set the phone down. He stretched his arms over his head.
He was just about to close his laptop when a different phone rang.
BEEP-BEEP. BEEP-BEEP.
This one didn't vibrate. It let out a sharp, digital tone.
It was his encrypted burner phone. The direct line to the Meta Liberation Army.
Kaito picked it up. "Go ahead."
"Arisaka," Chitose Kizuki said. Curious didn't bother with small talk. She sounded fast and sharp. "Are you busy?"
"Just looking at some numbers," Kaito replied. "What does Shoowaysha Publishing need tonight?"
"I want to expand," Curious said quickly. "The 'Keeping Up With The Todorokis' series is a massive, runaway hit. It is printing money for us. But I am not a one-trick pony. I want to dominate a completely different genre."
"Where are you looking?" Kaito asked.
"Glamour," Curious said. "Lifestyle. High fashion. I want a reality TV competition show that brings in billions of yen in clothing sponsorships and brand deals. And I have the perfect target."
"Who?"
"Rank Number Two," Curious said, her voice full of excitement. "Best Jeanist."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Jeanist? The guy is obsessed with denim and perfection."
"Exactly," Curious argued. "It's going to be a high-end competition. We bring in twenty amateur support-gear designers. We make them compete to design the best, most elegant hero costumes. Best Jeanist is the lead judge. He sits in a fancy chair and eliminates one designer every week."
"He will absolutely love judging people on their fabric choices," Kaito said.
"Right?" Curious laughed with him. "It makes him look like a fashion god to the public. And behind the scenes, Shoowaysha Publishing owns the broadcasting rights, meaning our army pockets all the commercial revenue from the clothing brands."
"It's a clean monopoly," Kaito agreed.
"I have the whole concept mapped out," Curious said. "But I need a title. You named the Endeavor project so perfectly last time. What do we call this one?"
Kaito mind flashed back to his past life on Earth. He remembered the massive, money-making reality shows that took over the television networks.
"Call it 'Project Hero: The Runway'," Kaito pitched.
"Oh, I love that title," Curious said immediately. "It sounds expensive. But how do we get him to actually sign the contract?"
"Don't ever say the words 'reality TV' to him," Kaito instructed. "He thinks reality TV is trashy. Frame the entire show as an 'educational platform to teach the youth of Japan about proper elegance and style.' He will sign it tomorrow."
"An educational platform," Curious repeated, writing it down. "You are a lifesaver, Kaito. I'm drafting the paperwork right now. I'll let you know when we start filming."
"Have a good night, Chitose."
CLICK.
_-_-_-_-_
Support the journey here:
patreon.com/Dr_Chad
(9 Advanced Chapters)