MHA: Time Manipulator

A lonely man stood on the balcony of an apartment in a high-rise building in one of the districts of Kyushu, smoking a cigarette and gazing at the enchanting landscape of the nighttime city. 

This flawless scene became even more perfect thanks to the silence of the night, which, although occasionally interrupted by distant police sirens, did not lose its magic; on the contrary, it only gained new nuances. 

"People keep disappearing more and more..." he muttered, lighting a new cigarette with his favorite gun-shaped lighter. The smoke slowly rose upward, dissolving into the cold night air. "There are more and more patrols... Students, rookies, professionals... they're recruiting anyone for those damn patrols."

He took a thoughtful drag of his cigarette, watching as another patrol passed under the balcony. If only that was his only problem... But no. Because of these patrols, his clients had to hide: some were lucky, others weren't, and they got caught by the heroes. Some even turned into rats, betraying their own just to save their skin.

"Maybe this is a sign…" he sighed, realizing that he had been staying in one place for too long, and it was time to move to a new apartment before they found him.

He knew well that soon the hero academies, especially U.A., would open their doors to new students, which meant the start of the annual battle for spots, with competition only growing stronger.

At the same time, it was an opportunity for people like him, seekers of profit. While housing prices near the academies were skyrocketing, on the outskirts, on the contrary, it was possible to find options for almost nothing.

And with a little effort, one could find a place in a decent neighborhood, where no one would ever suspect that their new neighbor was a criminal.

Smiling, he began to ponder this goldmine. He could not only buy himself temporary housing but also acquire nearly a hundred such apartments. And when the storm settled, he could sell most of them at a profit.

Extinguishing his cigarette, he entered the apartment and pulled his phone from its case with bunny ears. Even as a criminal, he couldn't help but admire one of the heroines.

He turned on the screen and saw a wallpaper featuring artwork of Miruko. In the art, she stood wearing only an apron, slightly leaning forward. In one hand, she held a plate of pancakes, while with the other, she sent an air kiss.

"With art prices like these, this artist is probably making more than I am... Though, I must admit, she definitely knows her craft."

Barely having time to take a small bite of the pancake and scroll through a few messages on his phone, the door suddenly slammed with a series of loud, sharp knocks.

'I'm not expecting anyone…' flashed through his mind as he froze in place.

Placing the fork with a piece of pancake on the plate and his phone on the table, he exhaled heavily, standing up and heading toward the door.

He hadn't been afraid of being caught by heroes for a long time. After all, if you're not ready for the fact that at any moment you could be caught, then what's the point of even stepping onto this path?

And yet… Deep down, he didn't want to admit to himself that he might have become too overconfident, having picked up this trait from a certain couple who always managed to come out unscathed and consistently win.

He couldn't suppress a smile, imagining how that unique couple, who seemed to win every time as if by some lucky lottery ticket called 'life,' was now relaxing somewhere on a warm beach in a cozy little house.

Still… deep down, he didn't want to admit to himself that perhaps he had become too overconfident, having taken on this trait from a certain pair who always came out unscathed and invariably won. 

He couldn't help but smile, imagining how this unique pair, who every time won the lucky ticket in the lottery called 'life', was now relaxing somewhere on a warm beach in a cozy little house.

The smile quickly disappeared because the knocking never stopped for a moment. It was nothing like the heroes or the police — if they knew he was here, they would have just kicked down the door and captured him, not given him a chance to escape. 

"God forbid, if it's one of my clients..." he muttered. Because Giran knew very well that if it was, and it was some idiot lackey from one of his unique clients who knew where he lived, the neighbors might call the heroes because of all this noise. And being caught for such an incredibly stupid reason... "Today, there might be one less scumbag."

Slowly approaching the door, Giran hid his pistol-lighter behind his back, just in case he needed to calm down the uninvited guest who continued to knock louder and louder. 

With his other hand, he slowly began to open the door, regretting that he hadn't replaced it with one that had a peephole, and even more so that he hadn't installed hidden cameras at the entrance, like he always did in his temporary residences.

Giran quickly opened the door, ready for anything, and immediately aimed the pistol-lighter at the silhouette that appeared on the threshold. 

"Who are you and what..." he began, but didn't have time to finish the sentence before his gaze instantly assessed the figure. 

It was one of the pair he had just mentioned — Tokima.

Heavy breathing, unsteady posture, no horns, gray eyes, and a disheveled appearance — and most importantly, she was alone, without Tsukima. All of this instantly made Giran realize that failure had finally caught up with the two of them. 

Without wasting any time, he quickly discarded the lighter-pistol and instantly pulled her into the apartment so fast that Kimika, who had been knocking just moments ago, didn't even have time to comprehend what had happened before she found herself on the ground.

Giran, without stopping, quickly glanced outside, scanning the surroundings and silently praying that the girl hadn't brought a tail.

Turning back one last time, he sighed in relief, seeing that there was no one there. 

As he quickly closed the door, he suddenly felt the breeze brush past his ear, as if something had just flown by. But when he looked around, aside from Tokima, who was getting back on her feet, he saw nothing.

"Better if it were those damn lackeys of my clients," he muttered, running past Kimika toward the living room. "I won't even ask what happened to you, but how did you even find my place?" 

"Ugh, my head... why did you do that?" Kimika groaned, holding her hand to the back of her head. "As for your place... I found the address in Toga's diary."

"From Toga's diary? So her threats weren't just empty words..." — Giran said quietly, pulling a backpack out of the closet. 

Kimika, finally getting to her feet and still holding her head with one hand, followed Giran into the beautifully arranged living room. 

Seeing how quickly he was tossing things from the closet into the backpack, she couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? Packing my things so I can get the hell out of here as quickly as possible! Do you really believe that after running what felt like the distance of several Olympic marathons from the heroes' fight all the way here, you're not going to bring a tail with you? Those damn patrols are practically on every corner, and I just don't believe that none of those heroes, seeing you in this state, won't want to know the details," he replied, and, seeing that all the necessary items were already in the backpack, he quickly ran into the neighboring bedroom.

"Tail? Fight?" Kimika muttered, recalling how she had indeed seen hero patrols practically on every street on her way here. "No! There was no fight with heroes! Well... actually, there was, but not today! And not a single one saw me..." 

Before she could finish her sentence, her heart nearly stopped when Giran's head appeared from the bedroom door she was approaching, with a clear look of surprise on his face.

"What? Your fight with the heroes didn't happen today? So, you… hid somewhere, waited out the storm, and then came to me?"

Lost in thought and pressing his finger to his temple, he began to consider that if the fight really hadn't happened today…

'No, this can't be.'

Giran knew he wasn't the kind of person who wouldn't have learned about a fight with heroes from his informants, especially since to defeat this pair, a lot of noise would have been needed. Only if influential people had intervened…

"If your fight didn't happen today, then we still have some time, but our situation… Toga, where is she?" Giran asked, turning back to the bedroom and continuing to pack, though not in such a hurry now.

Kimika, who followed him, tried to open her mouth and tell everything that had happened, but every time it ended with no words coming out of her mouth no matter how hard she tried. 

Her lips moved, but the silence remained impenetrable. 

Not receiving a response, Giran, without even looking at his conversation partner, instantly understood what was going on.

Understanding that Toga was likely in Tartarus right now, and this girl had come to ask for help to rescue her, 

He exhaled heavily, set down his backpack, and, sitting on the bed, gestured for Kimika to sit beside him. Without a trace of coldness or anger in his voice, he said: 

"Toga lost to the heroes, and you, through incredible luck, managed to escape and came to me to ask for help in saving her?"

"Yes..." came the quiet, barely audible response. 

"If you've come to me, then your situation must be dire, isn't that right?" he said with involuntary sarcasm, already knowing the answer. 

And just as he expected, he received the same quiet "Yes," bringing a faint smile to his face. 

"You know, this is quite a difficult situation," he said, rubbing his eyes. "On one hand, you came to entirely the wrong person. To me. To someone who only cares about profit, money... and a few other trivial things. And yet, you came to such a person asking for help. And you know, if anyone else were in your place, any other client at all, I would have, without hesitation, given a firm 'no' and that would be it."

Giran paused, his voice growing even colder as he continued: 

"On the other hand, you're asking me to save one of my most valuable clients — someone who has been one of the most profitable for me. And most importantly, surprisingly enough, by the time you came, Toga had been working for me for almost nothing, making me feel indebted to her, which I despise. And that is precisely why... I'll say no again."

Paying no attention to Kimika, he quickly grabbed his backpack and headed to the kitchen, intending to collect the last of his belongings — a laptop and phone — before leaving the apartment for good. 

Kimika, bewildered by his refusal, couldn't come to terms with what she had just heard. 

"But... but why?! You yourself said that she was the most beneficial for you! And then you spoke about being in her debt!" she exclaimed as tears involuntarily began to well up in her eyes. 

Without even pausing, he responded with coldness in his voice: 

"Everything is correct. I owe her, and having worked with her for a long time, despite her crazy personality, I know her like the back of my hand. And she would want me to refuse you. Because it's suicide. Tartarus is an impregnable fortress, from which no one has ever escaped in all its history, despite the rumors from petty hooligans who attribute this achievement to someone. It's absolutely impossible!"

"But she's not in Tartarus!" Kimika shouted, causing him to freeze in place.

"Then where is she?" Giran asked, turning to her with suspicion in his eyes. 

"She's at U.A. High School! We fought with Eraser Head, All Might, and several other heroes, and I know for sure she's there!" 

"Hmph, as if that changes anything. The only difference between them is one is a prison, and the other is a school. But in both cases, it's an impregnable fortress."

Kimika, not thinking of stopping yet still hoping to convince him, rushed forward. But, suddenly crashing into his back and not understanding the reason for his stop, she raised her eyes and immediately mimicked his example, freezing in place. 

Right in front of them, on one of the chairs in the kitchen, sat a third person with wings, legs propped up on the table, chewing on a pancake.

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What did you think of the ending with Hawks?? And as you all know, in the next chapter, there will be a battle between him and Kimika with Giran! By the way, he was chosen through a vote on my Patreon channel, where the hero(s) that our heroine will fight against were selected! Such votes will happen quite often. (And by the way, voting in them is completely free)

I also have an important question for the readers: did you like how I wrote Giran and Hawks in these chapter?

Want to see the continuation even faster than the next day? Or perhaps you want even more chapters? Head over to my Patreon — it's all there! But don't worry, sooner or later, it will be here too! patreon.com/Zoi4erom

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