You could see it.
Hiashi and Aiko's faces were visible in the video!
Ethan smiled—this could be a great help if he knew how to use it properly. His original plan had been put on hold because of this, and for that very reason, he hoped that what he saw and recorded would be useful in the future.
Besides, he still had 36 hours left to complete the mission. He had another chance to replicate his original plan the following night and could try out other things before that. The video, in many ways, was even better—but he would need to figure out how to take full advantage of it.
He might be able to get something out of Hiashi, but Aiko was much more difficult. Even so, both were clearly worried about getting caught—neither could afford it, even if Aiko had shown she could take the risk.
Ethan smiled. He had something good in his hands for the future.
Even so, it was time to sleep. If they noticed he was awake now, or that he'd left his room, they'd probably blame him for being the one who was out. The bathroom excuse would've worked, if not for the fact that he'd escaped the nun to avoid being discovered by the other two.
He decided not to think about it anymore and lay down. It was still 4 in the morning, and tomorrow he'd have a lot to think about regarding how to get DNA.
A new day, and new problems.
"Good morning, Ethan-kun." The boy looked at Aiko as normally as he could. After what happened yesterday, he didn't know how to act around her anymore. He definitely couldn't pretend 100% that he didn't know anything—he just hoped she wouldn't suspect a thing.
"Good morning, Aiko-chan. How did you sleep?" Ethan asked, then internally cursed himself.
What kind of question was that after what happened yesterday?
She could easily reply, 'With a sore throat, what about you?' At least, that's what he thought.
"Perfectly! I even helped make breakfast. Did you like it, Ethan-kun?" Ethan listened attentively as he took another bite. It was something simple, standard since it was the same food served to everyone in the orphanage. He just smiled and nodded.
"You made it? You cook great, Aiko-chan." The girl smiled brightly at the compliment.
Ethan took a better look at her in that moment. Saying she was cute was an understatement, which made it even more surprising that she did those kinds of favors.
(Image of Aiko →)
"Fufufu, I'm glad Ethan-kun likes it. When we were kids, I still remember perfectly how well Ethan-kun used to cook." Her way of speaking was a bit confusing to Ethan, but it fit perfectly with her role as an angelic big sister, almost completely shielding them from the terrifying world outside the orphanage.
Ethan smiled at the thought of those moments. He didn't know exactly if back then he had the talent that now showed in his Status, but thanks to the knowledge from his past life, he was a culinary master at the time—even if his skills were just average compared to adult standards.
"Those were good times. It's a shame we don't have many moments left. You're almost of legal age, right?" Ethan asked with a tone of sadness and regret. Maybe he was overacting a bit, but it was true—she was the person closest to his age and the one he talked to the most.
"And who says Ethan-kun can't come with me? It'll be the two of us against the world!" Ethan choked on his food after hearing Aiko say that so casually and cheerfully...
Was she inviting him to live with her? Was she really serious?
He suddenly remembered her words from yesterday. Was it really just teasing? Or was it this girl's hidden wish? Ethan looked at her, trying to see through her facade, but couldn't. She was definitely hiding something—and he wanted to know what it was.
"Sure, why not?" Ethan answered simply, and Aiko just looked at him with eyes full of surprise and hope, though it went unnoticed by him.
They continued talking about other things while they ate, though Ethan noticed Hiashi watching from a distance, clearly hiding some anger that Ethan picked up on easily.
***************************************
[Insufficient DNA sample]
Ethan couldn't help but be surprised by the message. He pulled the fork from his mouth and set it aside…
He had volunteered to clean the utensils to collect random people's DNA—but he didn't expect a message like that to suddenly pop up.
Was it really telling him that every idea he'd had so far—everything within his reach—was a bad one? A recently used utensil, in his opinion, would be slightly less effective than a toothbrush that people used daily, which would definitely contain sticky DNA residues.
And yet, the saliva left on the utensils was basically zero for the System. That put him in an even tighter spot. Would he really have to throw hands with someone to get some blood? Ethan couldn't believe it...
He wasn't afraid of fighting, just of being kicked out of the orphanage. Having a roof over your head gave you a kind of safety that sleeping on the street couldn't. Especially now, when crime rates were rising. Even if anime painted it all in rosy colors, this was real life for Ethan—and people died every day.
It wasn't unusual to have two or three people die in the city thanks to some crazy villain on a rampage, and someone just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That was life here, and he'd already adapted enough to stop complaining.
Ethan just sighed and continued his task. It was a pain to handle the dishes for nearly a thousand orphans, but he couldn't do anything about it once he'd accepted the job.
So, he sighed again and returned to his torture.
*********************************
[Insufficient DNA sample]
"What do you mean it's no good either?!" Ethan yelled at the new message, completely annoyed that he'd done all that for nothing.
He stared at the pile of hairs he'd collected from a comb in the lost-and-found. He didn't even know who it had belonged to, or how long it had been there but...
All useless!
Ethan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had eaten a hair from who-knows-who—and it hadn't helped at all. He threw the rest of the hairs in the trash and stood up from his bed, angry.
Little by little, his options were dwindling. Utensils, hair... His original plan remained: eating fingernails… or drawing blood from a fight. Sex was so far-fetched it wasn't even a real option in his mind.
The only thing he knew for sure was that time was running out, and he felt the pressure of having to live without a Quirk again.
He sighed and stood up again. He had to try all the options for now—anything to ensure the mission…
Then Ethan remembered the video again. Hiashi had told Aiko he'd paid her—he knew that clearly. But… wasn't stealing money easier than getting DNA? If Aiko did that for money, then he wouldn't be the exception.
Plus, her Quirk was pretty good. It might have a lot of restrictions, but for starters, he wouldn't find many better Quirks than Aiko's in the orphanage.
Anyone with decent talent would be recruited by the Hero Public Safety Commission and placed in a special orphanage.
They exploited those talents and turned them into people like Hawks or Lady Nagant—for their own ends.
Ethan knew this like the back of his hand. If you were an orphan, there was no problem being overexploited by an organization that claimed to protect the country in exchange for everything you could want—considering no one was really looking out for you.
'But how do I do this?' Ethan asked himself again, thinking of Aiko.
After thinking it over countless times, Ethan decided not to wait any longer. He sent her a message directly, asking to meet later. Ethan had everything prepared—and it had to be at that exact moment. If he failed, he still had a few options—but he wouldn't get another night to decide...
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