F&C - Chapter 18

Ch18 - Ace in the Hole

***

Sitting in his backyard, Yoshiki activated Lightcraft, his 'Quirk.'

A pale-yellow dagger of light instantly appeared in the air before him, so infinitesimally sharp that it could glide through human skin like it was paper.

8 milliseconds, or 0.008 seconds. From thought to application, this was his limit. Once the structure that he had in mind was formed, then he could move it around. He also had to wait for the base structure to form before 'extending' it, which was the basis for his PILLAR.

He could also move his light at 1200 kilometers per hour. While that was incredibly fast, more than a third of the speed of a bullet... Yoshiki had plateaued. If he tried to move his light any faster, his light creations would shatter from the resulting sonic boom. Lightcraft was strong, but it was weak to intense shock and pressure. He's known that for a while now...

But to think his weakness would be the speed of sound.

It was almost funny, in a way.

And no matter how sharp it was, he was still just holding photons together. If something sharp were to stab one of his creations with enough force, they'd shatter in turn. This could be subverted by changing the texture, or by constantly focusing his control on a creation to keep it held together, but the first option wouldn't be as deadly, and the second one drained stamina like a bitch.

Yoshiki could still craft light of any color with just a smidgen more concentration, but he usually defaulted to a pale yellow.

Since as far as the public was aware, he could only craft pale yellow constructs. And if he really focused, he could craft transparent constructs, and even one-way transparent walls– this worked by forming a mesh, similar to that of a screen door. Which was incredibly useful, since Yoshiki could use it to completely cover his face with light and then still be able to see.

Not that that had been an issue before, thanks to Observation.

As for invisible constructs... Yoshiki couldn't make them.

This was, arguably, a drawback of Forge itself. The power to grant himself any power that he desired was a phenomenal ability, but that was just it. It granted him powers that he himself desired. Since he imagined Lightcraft as absolute control of the shape, texture, and color of photons... that was all it granted him.

Of course, he could always grant himself the power to make photons under his control permeable to other photons, but that just wasn't his priority at the moment.

And last but not least, it was stronger now. Lightcraft initially had a range of 3 meters, but it now had a range of 3.8! That wasn't that big of an increase, but Yoshiki hadn't even expected an increase in the first place, so it was cause for celebration.

In hindsight, it was pretty obvious, since Lightcraft was a sub-Quirk, and Quirks grew stronger the more you used them.

All in all, Lightcraft was currently good enough to get him into Japan's top ten... by itself. All his other sub-Quirks made him well beyond that. If he wasn't somehow ambushed, which was pretty much impossible thanks to Divine Mind and Observation, Yoshiki was confident that he could crush anyone that wasn't All Might, All For One, or Star & Stripe.

Or the other #1 Heroes.

This wasn't a Japanese manga, no, this was the real world. And unfortunately for Yoshiki, it turned out that information on #1 Heroes, no matter the country, was heavily restricted. No one living in Japan actually knew what Star & Stripe's Quirk was– the most people knew was that she could 'temporarily warp reality.' Yoshiki would know everything about these top heroes the second he saw them, but it was still a valid concern.

And some of these other country's top hitters looked strong. Strong enough that Yoshiki could see why All For One had settled down in Japan.

All Might was still the Symbol of Peace, the global number 1, and was undisputedly the most powerful hero in Japan... but on the global scale, he was not without contenders.

Which was a terrifying thought.

But that was fine. For now, Yoshiki would continue to build up his strength. While a small part of him wanted to invest even more Energy into Lightcraft, he was satisfied with it. His 'Quirk' was strong, flashy, and versatile.

As for his next sub-Quirk, it was most likely going to be a healing one. And after that, Yoshiki didn't see a reason not to stick to the 'light' theme...

"Master~!" Manami called, practically skipping his way. "I brought you some– EEP!"

Yoshiki hummed as he warped Manami into his lap, catching their drinks with light. His adorable little shortstack of a maid all but melted in his grip, leaning back into his chest as she grinned stupidly up at him. Currently wearing a skimpy maid outfit, fishnets, a choker, and black eyeliner and lipstick... Manami was incredibly enticing.

She had noticed how he liked dressing her up in a goth aesthetic, and had instantly started dressing in that direction. Yoshiki saw no reason to complain.

In the last two weeks, Manami had dropped out of highschool officially, moved out of her apartment, and signed a contract with the Enokawa family as a maid.

And these last few days, Yoshiki's fucked her unconscious nearly 100 times, and with the way she was currently grinding her ass into his crotch... he was about to do it again. Manami was absolutely insatiable, and in her love obsessed mind, every second not spent either helping him or being dicked down by him was a second wasted.

His plump little shortstack was also really fun to bully, since she'd do absolutely anything to be the center of his attention, no matter how cruel and sadistic it was.

Fumika enjoyed ordering Manami around, too. Especially in the bedroom.

And then there was her Quirk, Love.

The power to amplify the strength of someone she loves, once a day.

Naturally, he tested her Quirk in its entirety. And if he had known the exact functions of her Quirk before hand... he would've claimed her as his years ago. Love not only boosted the physical strength of the target, but also the target's Quirk. As of now, his sex pet could boost his strength by a factor of 10, and his Quirk by a factor of 3.

Meaning, for 8 minutes a day, Yoshiki could gather Energy three times as fast.

Or more importantly, he could forge sub-Quirks three times as powerful.

That was quite honestly a game changer. It was a little mind boggling that, just by going out and claiming Manami as his maid, his growth rate had essentially tripled. Not to mention that the minimum cost of a sub-Quirk that increases Forge's Energy production was 10 years, and it'd only grant him a boost of 1.1x.

Quirks that buffed the strength of others were already rare, but Quirks that buffed the Quirks of others... Yoshiki didn't think there was a single one, at least not one as good as Love.

Then there was the fact that Love boosted not only Forge, but all of his sub-Quirks too, making Manami his undisputed ace in the hole.

Manami had been very, very happy with every single one of these discoveries.

"Koemi's birthday is next week," Manami said, leaning into his chest. "And the girl asked Fumi if she could have her birthday party here– Mitsuki didn't like that."

"Koemi likes the pool that much, huh?" Yoshiki chuckled.

"Yeah..."

Yoshiki had managed to straighten Izumi and Katsumi out. Izumi was doing her all to achieve her dreams, Quirk or not. She'd be in for a surprise once Yoshiki eventually got around to returning it. And while Katsumi was still loud, obnoxious, and short-tempered, every other word out of her mouth was a slur... she was still much, much better than her canon counterpart.

Koemi, though, she was a gremlin through and through.

She was just as loud and obnoxious as her older sister, and she even looked like Katsumi in miniature... but instead of being short-tempered, she was both patient and clever.

Case in point, Koemi already knew to ask his mother for things instead of her own, and she wasn't even 3 years old yet.

Quirk or not, the gremlin would make for a stellar hero one day.

"Master..." Manami mewled, panting as one of her hands played with her tits, and the other one reached for his crotch. "Your plump, lusty maid needs your attention~..."

Yoshiki bit his lip. 'She's worse than Fumika...'

Not that that was a bad thing. Not at all.

***

"""Happy birthday, Koemi!!"""

Much to Yoshiki's amusement, Koemi had succeeded. Fumika ended up hosting her birthday party in their backyard, just a small get-together with cake. Yoshiki himself was fine with it, since he preferred his own house to others. Mitsuki was annoyed that her daughter was already asking for things behind her back... but what could you do? And Masaru, as usual, just sort of rolled with the punches, chill as could be.

And much to Mitsuki's chagrin, her gremlin had arrived already in her swimsuit.

"Don't forget to make a wish, sweetie!" Mitsuki hollered from the side.

"I know, mom," Koemi muttered, way too sassy for a toddler. Brow furrowed, the little gremlin giggled maniacally before blowing out her candles a few seconds later.

Well, fuck. Now Yoshiki had to know.

ARCHIVE.

[ Koemi Bakugo. Wishes for a better version of her sister's Quirk, just so she can subtly rub in her superiority for the rest of their lives. ]

'What the fuck,' he thought to himself, slightly horrified.

Now that Yoshiki thought about it... he still didn't know what her Quirk was going to be, or if she even had one at all. He eventually decided to let it remain a surprise. He'd know what it was when the time came, and if she didn't end up having one, well, her big bro Shiki would happily do something about it.

"You're gettin pretty damn tall, sport!" Mitsuki chuckled, rustling his hair. Yoshiki was eye level with her boobs, not that he was looking. "Hell, you even look older too... what's Fumika been feeding you?"

<Just her tits, ass, and pussy,> he replied, greatly enjoying the way that his mother stopped in her tracks, only to let out a faint, exasperated sigh a few seconds later.

"Food," he answered.

"No shit..." Mitsuki muttered under her breath, before feasting her eyes on Inko. His Archive was always active, so Yoshiki's eyes widened a bit when he felt a spike of lust, as well as a tinge of jealousy and shame from her. Even if that was a rabbit hole that he very much wouldn't mind falling into, he refrained.

"Damn... how do you do it, Inko?" Mitsuki asked her, genuinely impressed.

"Hmm?" Inko tilted her head, confused.

"How do you... erm..." she trailed off, struggling to find the proper words.

Yoshiki nearly let out a snort. Mitsuki wanted to know how Inko pulled off looking fat so well, her massive breasts, thighs, hips and ass all lewdly straining her sweater and sweatpants, but Mitsuki couldn't just call her friend fat, either. Inko was kind, gentle, and sweet, and after her husband all but abandoned her, insulting Inko was just something you didn't do.

Well, Inko was a much different person now thanks to him, but Mitsuki didn't know that.

"Mitsuki wants to know how you pull off being a fatty," Fumika supplied.

Yoshiki actually snorted this time, Masaru spat out his drink, and Mitsuki had whipped her head around, staring at Fumika as if trying to ask "why?"

"T-That's...!" Inko sputtered, her face going bright red. "G-Good genes?"

"Damn good genes then," Fumika added, grinning. "If your bitch of a husband knew what he was missing out on, he'd be crying blood."

"Y-Yeah..." Inko muttered, her guilt surging just a bit. 'Oh, right.' his fat little cow still didn't know she'd been conquered, and Fumika herself had been the one to spur him on. He'd tell her eventually. Interestingly enough, none of Inko's guilt was directed towards her husband, just to him, Fumika, and... Izumi.

Huh.

"Poster Boy!" Katsumi hollered. "Make us a slide!"

Yoshiki turned to see Katsumi, Izumi, and Koemi waiting on him. Rolling his eyes, he raised his hand, walking towards them as he gestured at the pool.

Pretending to concentrate more then he was, and taking his sweet ass time, Yoshiki crafted two pale yellow slides, and a diving board. Then he slowly lifted himself through the air, floating towards the better slide, his slide, the slide that he had purposefully crafted without a single way to actually get up to it.

He chuckled lightly when Katsumi cursed under her breath.

"Poster Boy, huh..." he muttered, shaking his head.

'At least it's better than Piss Eyes.'

***

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Yoshiki's Sub-Quirks:

Index: Blank, Notepad, Identify, X-ray Vision, Lightcraft, DNA Lock, Sincerity, LC_decoy, Archive, Alert, Observation, Warp, Linger, Revise, Divine Body, Divine Mind, Cleanse, Hormone Control, Impulsive, Conquer

Total: 20