Dragon's Pride (Ch 11) (Patreon)

“Of course not.” A sudden voice takes me off guard, and I whirl around. Standing at the door to the warehouse is a woman in a suit, bob-cut black hair and absolutely beautiful golden eyes. They’re nearly enough to distract from the rest of what she says. I still manage to listen, but only just.

“Quirks are not nearly worthy enough to be a part of your august being. To imply otherwise would be to slander your magnificence! You have no need of a quirk because your capabilities are far above what a mere quirk could accomplish. They could never match your strength!”

I squeal, hopping in place and clapping my hands as I let my scales retract across my body, keeping the ones trailing from my neck up to my cheeks and on my hands. “See! You get it! And I absolutely love your eyes!” My own sparkle as I suddenly appear in front of her, maximizing my control to not cause any damage or stir up any dust. It would be terrible if any obscured my view of the eyes or worse, got some in them!

“Can I have them?” The coloring is so pleasing, they’ll take prime place in my Hoard! Oh, but eyes have a tendency to deteriorate the same as any other body part. What to do…

She bows at the waist, her head not tilting at all as she maintains eye contact with me. “Unfortunately these are simple contacts, so my eyes would be unfit to add to your Hoard. It would be a pleasure to provide you with some though, so that those around you can enrich your viewing experience. However, we do have something that we believe would make a wonderful addition!”

My shoulders slump down in disappointment at hearing that her eyes are only like that because of contacts. That’s even worse than it being her natural eye color! Sure, I can put them on whoever so I could see them again, but them being contacts means that they aren’t special! They can easily be mass produced! I doubt that they’re even real gold! This woman is right, they aren’t suited for adding to my Hoard.

Wait.

“We?” And earlier, didn’t she say that quirks will never be able to match my strength? I disagree with that both on a professional and personal basis. Professional because it would mean that quirks are going to hit a plateau soon where they won’t get any more powerful, though I suppose that they can still become more intricate, and their strength will be decided upon by how the person uses them.

The reason for my personal disagreement is more selfish. It would mean that I’ll never be able to enjoy a good fight! That would suck!

The woman nods, gesturing to someone outside the warehouse. They enter and my eyes become fixated on their golden hair. And unlike the contacts, my instincts are telling me that it’s actually gold! “My partner’s quirk allows him to permanently turn the hair on his head into gold, so even when removed it does not revert to natural hair.”

She slowly reaches over to him as my hands and tail twitch, my wings popping out as I hold myself back from flying at the man and rushing him back to my apartment. It shouldn’t be too hard to keep him fed and healthy for the rest of his life so I can keep all the hair he grows…

But then she rests her hand on his hand, and his hair starts to grow on its own!!! She explains as his hair starts to get longer and longer, quickly reaching his shoulders and trailing down his back. “My quirk allows me to accelerate the growth of someone’s hair, so the two of us are in a perfect position to provide you as much as you wish. Please, consider it a gift.”

I nod along with her words, carefully eyeing the growth. I hold up a hand once it reaches his waist, ignoring the thump and sound of approaching footsteps behind me. “That’s enough. Anymore and it would be difficult to keep it clean before I bring it back.”

The woman nods and immediately halts her quirk, procuring a set of scissors that I can smell aren’t normal. “Would you like for your new addition to be removed now, or would you be amicable to us accompanying you to the location of your Lair for ease of transport?

I frown at the use of the word ‘Lair’ -noting the way she swallows at the action- as I think back on the apartment I’m staying at. “It can hardly be considered a proper Lair…”

Giran snorts from his position at my shoulder, crossing his arms as he eyes the two people across from us. “Well sorry it’s not ‘a massive space fit for someone like me’. There was a distinct lack of mansions, and there’s no way I can just-”

“It would be an honor if you would allow us to locate a suitable Lair for you, ma’am.” The woman speaks quickly, talking over Giran’s words as she gives a tense bow again, hesitating a moment before she speaks again. “Apologies if this seems impertinent, but would it be permissible for us to retire to a more suitable venue for these talks? We lowly humans lack your strength and adaptability, so we find it difficult to conduct business in a locale such as this.”

I nod even as an eyebrow rises at the ‘lowly humans’ part. These people… they know what I am. That alone would be enough for me to accommodate them, to learn more about myself. And on top of that they’re adding to my Hoard? This entire situation is nothing but wins!

“Sorry, but can you explain what’s going on? This girl was just about to be brought into the police.” Eraserhead’s cautious voice comes from further behind me and I glance back, seeing him and Present Mic staring at us warily.

I hold back a snort at the claim, letting a smile play at my lips. From where I was standing, that’s nowhere close to what was happening. Still, getting their butts kicked by me should be enough of a hit to their egos, so I’ll let it go. This time.

The woman glares at him, putting ‘if looks could kill’ to the test. Luckily for him, she already demonstrated that her quirk has nothing to do with her eyes. “As heroes, the two of you should have already been made aware of the situation. Seeing as you haven’t it means that someone hasn’t been following instructions, so you will be let off somewhat lightly. Your prison sentence will be determined by the actions you’ve taken here today.”

“Hold up, what the heck!? Prison!? What for!?” Present Mic is understandably taken aback, and honestly so am I. Why would the two of them need to be sent to prison? Are they actually corrupt heroes?

But instead of listing off their crimes, the woman simply points at me, and I tilt my head as I finally withdraw my wings and tail. “The venerable young lady-”

“Just call me Izumi,” I grimace. “You’re making me feel old.”

She doesn’t miss a beat as she corrects herself. “Izumi falls outside the purview of Japan’s law enforcement, and all matters relating to her were to be left to the DAB.” Her glare intensifies. “Local law enforcement was supposed to avoid coming into conflict with her and report sightings to us. But instead, we find the two of you here FIGHTING HER!”

They stare at her uncomprehendingly. “So… you’re saying that we’re going to be arrested because she attacked us while we were apprehending a gang?” The doubt is clear in Eraserhead’s voice.

“That’s correct.” The woman says matter-of-factly.

I frown again. Normally such a claim would be utterly ridiculous, but the confidence she has in her words makes me think that it might be true. But…

“That’s ridiculous.” I say, drawing everyone’s attention back to me as I cross my arms. “Not only is that a ridiculous reason for arresting them, but I don’t want them arrested. How am I supposed to enjoy myself if I can’t fight people without them getting arrested afterwards?”

The woman blinks at me in surprise. “Pardon, Izumi. But you did not take offense to their actions?”

I nod. “Of course not! Sure, I hate the insistence that I have a quirk, but the fighting itself I enjoy. So no punishing them, ok?” Normally such a request could only be made by someone high up in the government, and even then it might not be listened to. But with how properly subservient this woman has been…

“Very well, Izumi. They won’t be overly punished.” She bows again. “If that is all, perhaps we could take our leave? There is much to be discussed.”

I nod and my stomach growls. I eye the cooked bodies appraisingly, and the woman seems to understand my intentions. “It would be a pleasure to treat you to a meal. And do not worry about the bodies, we will have our people come clean up and preserve the dead for you to do with what you wish.”

“Hey now-”

She cuts off Eraserhead’s objection. “As I already informed you, you have no authority in this situation. That includes what we do with the dead. If you have any objections, you are free to bring it up with the local government. However, you should be prepared for the blowback that would result in such an action.”

She glances at the downed hero and the seemingly uninjured gang member, her eyebrow twitching. “We shall ensure the injured are properly taken care of, so there is no need for concern on that front.” She says that slowly, looking at me out of the corner of her eye to see if I have any objections. I don’t, of course. Sure, Snipe outright said I have a quirk, but I already hit him for that so we’re good on that front. And I don’t actually care that a member of the gang survived. It’s not like I was trying to kill them at the time anyways.

Which reminds me…

“You coming along, Giran?” I ask the information broker and my protectee. This seems like it’s going to have a lasting effect on my life, so if something happens he should probably be in the know.

He eyes the two of them appraisingly as he chews his lip. The woman frowns, speaking to him directly for the first time. “What exactly is your relationship with Izumi?”

“Oh?” He gives her a grin. “Well, she and I work together. Basically, she protects me during meetings like this and deals with the more ‘inadequate’ people afterwards, and I ensure she has a constant supply of valuables to add to her hoard.”

“Hoard,” I correct idly. I can hear the difference.

He rolls his eyes while the woman’s own narrow. “Apologies, but the information shared during this meeting is exceedingly sensitive.” She turns to me. “What would it take for your arrangement with this man to come to an end?”

I tap a claw to my chin as I think, internally chuckling at the way he sputters in indignation. “Well…” I start off slowly. “First of all, I would need assurance that he isn’t about to be arrested by these two heroes.”

“Done.” She nods, glaring at said heroes who glare right back. Well, Eraserhead glares. Present Mic just looks lost about the entire situation.

“I would also need a replacement supply to add to my Hoard.”

“That can be arranged.” She confirms.

“Hmm.” I hum as I try to think of anything else before I look at Giran. “Do you need anything?”

He huffs, letting his shoulders slump before he sighs. “I always knew that you would outgrow me.” He eyes the woman who seems to be radiating smugness. “I just didn’t think it would happen so fast.” He shrugs, turning to her. “I want two hundred million yen. It will take that much for me to be willing to cut off contact with her.”

She nods. “Done.”

Giran smirks at me and stretches out his hand while the golden haired man directs the heroes out of the warehouse, speaking quietly to them as they reluctantly leave. I doubt they’ll go far though, since Snipe is still here and knocked out. “Well Bush, looks like this is goodbye.”

I take his hand. “So it is, Gap.” I give it a firm shake before pulling him towards me and raising his arm to my mouth. His eyes widen as I give his forearm a light bite, briefly piercing the skin before I lick the wound.

He jerks his hand back before scowling as he uses his handkerchief to wipe off the saliva left behind. “Couldn’t resist finally getting a taste, could you?”

I snort, eyeing his arm as the punctures heal, leaving only incredibly faint scarring as any sign that they were there in the first place. “Hardly.” I meet his eyes, conveying that my words are serious. “I’ve marked you. If your business brings you harm, I won’t interfere. But if it’s not business…”

I give him a savage smile, letting my bloodlust burst out for a brief moment. “Call out to me. Never forget that I protect what’s mine.”