MHA Chaos' Whims Chapter 57: Plans (Patreon)

[Rolling Advantage Platinum Skill Ticket…]

[Adept Math

|Rare Skill|

You are a savant in terms of mathematical and calculative ability, you will never need a calculator since your head crunches calculations faster than you can type them into a calculator, while you aren't competing with computers just yet, you are far faster than you should be.

OR

|Expert Cooking|

|Elite Skill|

You are an expert in the culinary arts, better than most chefs will ever be. You can cook almost any meal if given ingredients and it will almost certainly taste great. At the very least, no one leaves your dining table unsatisfied. Still not quite at foodgasm levels but you are close.]

“Math? Seriously?” Himiko asked, stretching out across me. “You really can’t deny being a nerd now.”

“Never have.” I retorted. Math and cooking. For a platinum roll, even with one being an apparent elite rank, this had to be some kind of bad luck. “Besides, I like cooking. I can get better at that on my own. Wouldn’t it be nerdier to not take the math skill and have to study more for our classes?”

“Guess you have a point. Still a nerd though.”

Chuckling I went with the Adept Math skill before moving on to the next ticket. The skill came with a bit of strange tingle around my head but not the same pain as the others. I guess it wasn’t inserting a bunch of information into my head so much as tweaking how my brain worked in relation to calculations?

[Rolling Advantage Gold Trait Ticket…]

[Charming Eyes]

|Common Trait|

Not to be confused with the mystical eyes of charming. Instead of hypnotizing people, your eyes are just really pretty.

OR

[Immortal Soul

|Elite Trait|

Your soul is immortal. It can be wounded and shattered but never annihilated as long as you possess energy.]

The first was useless to me.

I didn’t know what to think about the second. If there was a quirk out there that could attack the soul I guess I’d have nothing to worry about anymore, but what were the chances I ever encountered something like that if it turned out to be possible in the first place? This was a just in case trait that I didn’t see ever getting any kind of use unless I rolled some kind of crazy ability that came at the cost of damaging my soul.

Himiko and I had a little back and forth about my abilities casually confirming the existent of souls but in the end, she didn’t see much of a reason to go with the first either, claiming I already had that going for me.

With her around self esteem would never be a problem.

Going with Immortal Soul, I moved on to the next.

[Rolling Gold Skill Ticket…]

[Expert Programming

|Elite Skill|

You are an expert programmer. Your skill with coding is comparable to a low-level Tinker ability. You can craft and code complex algorithms and programs with ease. You can even make basic artificial intelligences.]

The moment I finished explaining what I got, I placed a hand over Himiko’s mouth, already knowing what she was about to call me. She took that as a chance to try biting at me, against all odds managing to nick my skin and lick at my blood.

The skill didn’t come with the migraine I was expecting considering all the knowledge I now had floating around my head. The number of things that went into creating even what the Gacha determined to be a basic AI was something else, literally years of dedicated study to such things just dumped into my mind.

And my head, maybe in small part due to my math skill, was crunching numbers as I entertained a few different ideas.

Some kind of device built into my mask or entire costume that could monitor my vitals, and, should they fall below a certain threshold, force me to drink some of Himiko’s stored blood. Having it handle the switching and release of blood entirely based off the situation or commands from me.

None of my initial ideas were groundbreaking but I could see myself getting use out of this. I could do the same for Himiko. Building the actual equipment itself before I did any of the programming was the bigger issue.

Combat uses aside, in this day and age, its uses career wise was self explanatory. It wouldn’t be hard to get rich with all the knowledge in my head without ever stepping a foot outside or having to do anything crazy. Somehow get into freelancing, code some basic text games or something, and plenty more.

The internet might be, scratch that, was the greatest distraction ever created, but calling it the land of limitless opportunity wasn’t far off either. There were plenty of ways to make money if you were willing and able to put in the hours.

And now for that ticket I got due to Hagakure.

[Rolling Bronze Familiar Ticket…]

[Chauffeur

|Common Familiar|

This familiar, when called, summons a very luxurious limousine driven by a golem driver that will drive you to anywhere you specify that it can successfully drive to before driving off and vanishing the moment it goes out of sight. If the car and/or the driver is destroyed, this familiar will go into a 24-hour cooldown.]

That was interesting. I couldn’t call it useless, but I wouldn’t be using it too often. Yaoyorozu riding around in a fancy car made sense but a kid of modest means suddenly getting around the city in one? Fresh after that villain attack and with what the school staff thought to be my quirk, it wouldn’t be a good look.

Something for the future though.

“How do you not want blood all the time?” Himiko asked through a satisfied sigh as she pulled away my lax hand, her grip a touch stronger. “Your quirk makes drinking it feel even better.”

I knew where she was coming from, the strength exhilarating, but unlike her, I had my quirk my whole life even if I hadn’t used it much for a long time. That feeling was normal for me. She’d get used to it after some time. Probably. Maybe not.

Our quirks might be a bit of dangerous combination for her. Bloodboost pretty much fed into her natural calling for blood.

A cheery jingle came from her vibrating phone. Himiko rolled away from me, grabbing it and quickly shooting up after flicking through the screen. “Nice. Tsu said she got permission to head out today. She’s taking one of those early trains so I’m going to go meet up with her later.” She said smiling. “I can bring her back here, right?”

“Guess I’m cooking breakfast for three.” I said, rising up myself.

“Why not four? Ochaco’s headed out with us so we might as well invite her over if she’s awake.”

“Four it is.”

All smiles, she gave me a peck before heading off to the bathroom. A shared breakfast wasn’t the first way I expected my morning to go, but, possible awkwardness aside, it should be fine.

“-nothing like that. I’m fine.” Phone held up to my ear by my shoulder, I undid the final screw, pulling out one last shelf. “Yes ma’am.”

A part of the bathroom walls, the cupboard I’d opened up had been built with holding all sorts of hygiene products in mind. I’d only been using a small spot in it, the rest full of Himiko’s stuff, now placed all around the sink behind me. I’d buy some kind of cupboard to build as a replacement later.

This one, now an empty space one could easily crawl into through not very deep, would be perfect for what I had in mind.

“Yes….yes. I love you too. I’ll see you Saturday.” A few more goodbyes exchanged and I hung up my phone, slipping it into my pocket. I wasn’t sure what exactly the school said to her but come Saturday, I planned on telling her everything myself.

Everything.

Shigaraki and Kurogiri hadn’t directly seen me handle that Nomu. If only they were broken out, All For One might not learn exactly what happened. That meant flying below his interest if that was enough to get it. Too many variables I couldn’t control there though. I could just as easily be worth looking into for stalling Kurogiri.

I assumed the Gacha would tell if the living boogie man of this world had an interest in me, but I wasn’t going to depend on that.

Gate Creation slotted in, I focused, feeling my energy gather up. Exact down to what felt like the nano second, as soon as a minute passed, all that gathered energy, the chunk comparable to my highest ranked familiar, left me and took physical shape, a wall of silent black outlined by the faintest blue replacing the back of the cupboard.

I placed a hand to it.

Cold to the touch, it was like a steel wall. If it was always like this, good, but there was a chance this was just an inactive state and it could be much more noticeable. Either way, I’d need to place a second gate back home with Aunt Nozomi and leave some familiars with her while I was at it.

Pulling back, I closed the cupboard door. I’d either break the handle off and fill the hole left behind or replace the door entirely, making it look like any other part of the wall. Should I be doing something like this in an apartment I didn’t own? No but there was a time and place to break the law.

Rain and wind.

The scent, behind me, smacked my nose out of nowhere, the beat of a heart coming along with it.

I twisted around, grasping the hand near a holster and-

“It’s you.” I stopped. Standing in front of me, trench coat and hat in place with a familiar rift filling the bathroom, was the Mysterious Stranger himself. Raising the hand I stopped, he held it up between us.

A ticket, golden in color with a soft but brilliant gold, rested between his fingers.

Right. The Mysterious Stranger Trait mentioned that once I exceeded the usefulness of an armed gunman, I’d get a ticket in exchange for losing the trait.

“You sure about this?” I asked the taller man. Sure, a simple revolver didn’t present much of threat to the worst things I might have to face but the man had already stepped in once and put in work. Besides what would happen to him if I gave up the trait? Surely he wasn’t fine with disappearing, even HK voicing his distaste for a possible demise through my death. “I don’t mind you holding on that that if you want to stick around.”

He shook his head and raised the ticket higher.

He must not have the same concerns. It wouldn’t be right to keep him chained to me if he didn’t want to be.

“Alright.” I said, taking the ticket. “Thanks for you help.”

[Rolling Gold Trait Gacha Ticket…]

He and the ticket begin to fade away as soon as the notification appeared, the Mysterious Stranger offering a tip of his hat.

[Mysterious Stranger]

|Rare Trait|

A guardian angel with a revolver and a fedora, always just slightly out of reach. Sometimes, in moments the stranger will come and offer you his brief assistance, maybe he shoots your enemy in the ankle to cripple them or disables a trap you need him to. (Once the functionality of a skilled man with a gun becomes useless for the MC, the mysterious stranger will drop by one last time and give them a gold rarity trait ticket as a refund before the trait disappears.)

He reappeared in front of me.

“Maybe this is a sign?” I suggested, a smile breaking out. I don’t know what the chances of a duplicate were, but I guess this confirmed I could get one. Or maybe the trait was added back to the pool the moment I gave it up and, against all odds, I pulled it.

Smirking, he shook his head again, offering another identical ticket.

[Rolling Gold Trait Gacha Ticket…]

[Thermal Balance

|Rare Trait|

You are always thermally balanced to be at a comfortable temperature. As long as the temperature isn't hotter than 1000°C or colder than -100°C your body will always keep an optimal body temperature.]

With one more tip of his hat, the Mysterious Stranger fully faded away, scent and heartbeat going with him.

I wouldn’t call this an equivalent exchange for a gunman that could appear from thin air without any warning, but it felt like complaining would kind of sully his decision to leave. Better to think of this trait as a nod of respect from the man himself.

Not really sure it’d have any truly useful effects though. It’d already take extreme temperatures to bother me.

Instead of leaving the gate where it was, with just a thought, it dissipated, the test over. With Tsu and possibly Uraraka coming over, I didn’t have time for a proper cover up.

Which reminded me, I needed to get to cooking.

“Sorry, Himi.”

“Sorry?” Walking hand in hand with Tsu through empty residential streets, the sky still dark, Himiko raised a brow as she slipped her phone away, the sudden apology taking her off guard. “I don’t mind getting up this early if that’s what you’re talking about. Katsu’s blood woke me right up.”

“Not that, ribbit. I’m sorry about yesterday. We’re friends. I should’ve gone with you when you ran back with the others.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But-“

“Seriously, don’t worry about it. You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Himiko assured her, smiling. “I know how cool you are under pressure, so I bet it wasn’t the villains. You were worried about getting in trouble or getting expelled, right?” She nodded. “You do a lot just to get to school, Tsu, and you really want to be a hero. I wouldn’t have wanted you messing that up for me.”

Maybe it was a little messed up, but she did like hearing that Tsu was bothered enough to be this worried over something she hadn’t been thinking about though.

“I still feel bad, ribbit.”

“Hmmm, you know Katsu’s really good at hiding it, but he definitely liked having you hug him yesterday.” Himiko pointed out stopping to give Tsu a look over, red dusting her cheeks as a croak left her.

Tsu was obviously cute. Anyone who said otherwise could get a punch straight to the face. Bigger boobs than her, a bit more in the back, and nice thighs; try as he might, Katsu’s muted reactions to all that still made it obvious he was attracted to Tsu.

She’d wanted to try fully using her quirk since they started having sex, especially with the bit of Tsu’ blood they’d had before, but a part of her had worried about something that seemed so stupid now.

Katsu loved her just as much as she loved him.

“I haven’t showed you the full body transformations I can do with my quirk, have I?” Himiko said, grinning. “If you really want to do something to say sorry, there’s something I want to try with your blood.”

As Himiko went into detail, sharing things that left Tsu even redder, more embarrassed croaks filled the air. In the end though, Tsu gave up a good bit of blood.

Himiko was looking forward to the big hang out they had planned today. Just as much as she was about what would follow.

(A/N: Intended on this being the full hang out chapter but getting so many tickets for the USJ ending up taking up a lot of time. Other than Gate, kind of mediocre rolls compared to what I was expecting from those rank tickets. My luck, and by proxy Katsu’s, has got be some of the most wish washy stuff. When I rolled Immortal Soul on the Gacha website, you know what was beside it? The god damn Hyuga trait. Bro could’ve had the Byaukgan or however you spell it but nope.

Usually I reroll or blacklist things so they never show up again after Katsu gets them but I never did that at the start so Mysterious Stranger was still in the pool. Normally I’d have just rerolled it without mentioning it in the story but it was the perfect chance for fun little scene with the guy.

And to top off this chapter, Himiko is making her own play. Naturally that’s some plot related smut so expect a chapter of that soon that’s not regulated to the extras category.)