Kazuho Haneyama, 21-year-old, looked up at the sky-high buildings in the morning.
When did it become a hobby of hers, she didn't remember. It felt like ever since she had become a student at Tokyo University, she had been walking like this — her neck craned up toward the distant roofs.
No. She didn't miss her days as Pop*Step — the popular freelancer idol.
She didn't miss her days as one of the Naruhata Vigilantes.
She certainly didn't miss her Quirk — Leap.
Yes. She remembered the times when she could hop from one building to another a few years ago using her Quirk.
But, then the Queen Bee, a parasitic Villain, had possessed her, taking over her personality and turning her into a Villain as well, named — Bee*Pop.
In the end, when they had saved her by surgically removing the parasitic Villain from her, it had left her in a coma with muffled memories.
As the Queen Bee had made her left eye its beehive, the incident had also left her with only one eye now.
Kazuho didn't mind the loss of her left eye as she touched the eye patch on it.
But her Quirk — Leap — that was gone as well.
So, perhaps, she did miss it a bit.
But both her Idol and Vigilante days were over, she told herself for the thousandth time, letting out a smile.
Now, she was content with her life — a normal, unimpressive, Quirkless life.
Sighing to herself, taking a last look at the skyscraper, Kazuho shook her head, her vision blurring.
And as she kept walking, her friends joining her a few moments later, a raven looked at her — casually.
…
Nyx hadn't found Kazuho so easily.
To keep Luke out of this, she had done it all by herself.
First, she had thoroughly read the info on Kazuho that was documented in Box No. 6 — the same box that Luke had stolen from the Jaku City Hospital.
Then, taking the help of Dowsing Rod Divination and Dream Divination, a Divination method that Luke dared not use anymore, she had pinpointed Kazuho's current location to Tokyo.
It was during one of her routine flights that she had chanced upon her, before returning to Luke and letting him know that she had found it yesterday.
Today, they would be making first contact with her.
Before that, she needed to confirm that the girl didn't possess a Quirk.
Kazuho had never had her Quirk stolen, as per the records. But, ever since she had come out of the coma a few years ago, the girl had failed to use her Quirk.
It could be because of the trauma.
Or it could be something else.
That's where Spirit Vision came into the picture.
Using it, Nyx had confirmed that the Spirit Particles were not condensed in Kazuho's legs anymore, i.e., she was lacking Quirk Factors there, as predicted by Luke based on his experience.
She still had a high density of the Spirit Particles in her legs, but they were distributed randomly, as if someone had shaken her insides turbulently.
Now, with Luke's reasoning, knowledge, and experience in her mind, and given her Spirit Vision's observation, Nyx felt like she had even data to confirm the doubt.
She flew away to an abandoned, dark street, found a relatively cleaner spot on a window AC, and uncurled the Topaz Pendulum from her left leg.
The moment she saw the Topaz, Nyx let out a disgusted grunt.
Far away from Luke, Nyx couldn't use any of the Quirks bestowed upon her by him.
After the first time when the motherf… Cough! Villains had stolen her pendulum, Luke had forced her to keep a Topaz one with her.
She hated it.
She hated it with her everything.
Holding one end of the pendulum, she let the Topaz hang and waited for it to come to a rest. Then, she closed her eyes and focused on the question regarding Kazuho's Quirk in her mind, repeating it seven times.
When she opened her eyes, she found the Topaz rotating clockwise with moderate speed.
It means — Nyx let out a sly smile — the girl's cherry is ready to be popped!
As if the thought itself was a curse, Nyx felt like her entire strength was abandoning her. It was like she had just eaten and then vomited the entire thing in the next moment.
"Not again!" Nyx cawed, frustrated.
Curling the small pendulum around her left claw, she flew down and began spitting out a small table, scented candles, vials of essential oils, etc.
Then, after setting up the altar, she drew the pupilless eye on a paper, putting it between the lit candles.
Suddenly, she heard a noise to her right.
There was a homeless, old man gawking at her, with his mouth hanging low.
"…?"
"…?"
"You are a…" the old man began, his voice weak.
"Say it…" Nyx turned around to face him. "Say it, you mongrel. I dare you. I double dare you…"
The old man feasted on the word — crow — as if this was the tastiest meal he had in weeks, but he dared not say it out loud. Finding the entire scene one of the creepiest things he had seen in his life, he just turned around and left.
"… thought so," Nyx scoffed, returning to the altar, and began chanting in Hermes.
…
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;
The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog;
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
…
Musutafu,
In his study room, Luke was seated with a book on Ancient Greece in front of him.
Only a few hours ago, Toru had arrived to have a one-on-one lesson with Sand after Luke had convinced him to do him this favor.
Ever since yesterday, when the girl had dropped a bomb on him, Luke hadn't found an iota of sleep, dark circles appearing under his eyes.
The clearest path in front of him was to hypnotize the girl and make her forget everything.
It was also one of the reasons why he had asked her to come home, hoping to find a secluded place where he could do the job.
But there were two things wrong with this plan.
First, Luke had no way to confirm if Toru had told someone what she saw in the Landslide Zone or not. He didn't trust the girl or her words.
There was a probability that a Pro Hero was out there just waiting for him to do something like this.
He might have been just overanalyzing the situation, Luke knew.
But the consequences of ignoring this reasoning were grave as well.
Second, from a broader perspective, and considering all the possibilities that could arise in the future, Luke believed that he could — take advantage of this situation and turn her into a…
Suddenly, Luke sat up straight, a distinct whisper bombarding his mind.
…
[Nyx is praying to Mr. Fool. She might have run out of her Seer Powers.]
…
Luke nodded, getting up.
This was the second time this had happened.
They had already prepared a vial of Potion beforehand, expecting it to occur today.
Stepping into the bathroom, Luke snapped his fingers, activating the Descorrer Quirk in a rat.
After deciding the location where Nyx would be praying from, Luke had the rat see it as well, making it learn the coordinates as it was the condition to use the Quirk.
The space parted right in front of the toilet, the rat exploding right after.
From the blackness, Nyx hopped out and eyed Luke.
"And?" Luke raised an eyebrow.
Not able to control herself, Nyx said the same sentence as she had thought after confirming that Kazuho didn't have a Quirk anymore.
Luke's entire face crumpled. "Nyx!!!"
"Haaaaaaaa…" Nyx slumped down, her entire body relaxing. "Seriously… it's not the same without seeing your reaction…"
****************
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