"That bastard really pissed me off. Hmph, now he finally shut up."
Even while being carried in Tohka's arms, Miku Izayoi was still fuming over what happened earlier, making Tohka speechless. Why was this girl even more fired up than her? Was that even necessary?
"Alright, calm down for a bit."
Tohka sighed helplessly, giving her a quick reminder before continuing to fly toward her apartment in New York. Ever since Miku arrived, she had been living with Tohka.
At the same time, on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, Nick Fury watched the departing Tohka and Miku Izayoi, then turned to Coulson and asked, "That girl's power doesn't seem to be limited to mind control. She also showed a powerful sonic attack, right?"
"Yes, the rookie she hit still hasn't recovered."
Coulson's face twitched at the memory. That guy really had a talent for asking for it. Even Coulson himself didn't know what to say.
"Well, maybe it's for the best—might help him learn his lesson. Though, thinking about it, even though Graviton's attack destroyed everything nearby that night, we still found shattered glass in the surrounding area."
"Hmm, I see. I've already had people start developing weapons specifically to counter her, but right now we know too little about her abilities. We can only work with the data we have. Even if we can't stop her directly, at least we'll be prepared for similar threats."
Nick Fury knew full well that the gear being developed likely wouldn't work on Miku Izayoi. After all, based on what they'd seen, Tohka was clearly stronger—and she would probably protect Miku. Still, contingency plans were necessary.
That night, in a forgotten corner of New York—or rather, in the middle of some ruins—a mechanical assistant picked up a black bottle. It then held the object in front of its eyes, inspecting it carefully before revealing a satisfied smile.
"Norman, I found something interesting. But it seems to be coated in strong energy. I'll need some of your instruments. There might be new findings. With this, I might be able to complete our earlier deal. Don't forget—what you provided was the price of that deal."
The figure looked at the person on the other side of the screen and said calmly.
"Hmph, I know. But we still haven't obtained Spider-Man's blood serum," Norman Osborn said indifferently from his desk. "Without that, how do you expect to develop what I need?"
"That's not certain. This looks like something that rich girl dropped during the previous battle. It's definitely not ordinary."
The man stared at the black mass twitching inside the transparent bottle, wrapped in a layer of purple energy. He could more or less guess who it belonged to. What shocked him most was that even his mechanical tentacles couldn't damage the energy shield around it. This gave him a whole new understanding of Tohka—she was even more powerful than he imagined.
"Oh? Rich girl? Who is it?" Norman hadn't connected the dots yet.
"The heiress of the Stark family. That's all—I'm heading back. Coming here turned out to be quite the harvest. Damn, if it weren't nighttime, I might've missed it."
"Mm, a new day begins."
The next morning, Tohka got up from bed. But this time, she noticed that Miku Izayoi hadn't climbed into her bed. For the past few days, Miku had been sneaking into her bed almost every night and wriggling around restlessly, keeping her from sleeping well. Of course, Tohka had no idea that the item she lost was now in the hands of someone extremely dangerous.
"You're up, Tohka."
The moment she stepped out, Tohka saw Miku sitting in the living room, surrounded by a mountain of CDs.
"What are you doing? You know you can just download those online, right? Why bother buying physical copies? Isn't it troublesome?"
These were the music albums they had ordered before—just delivered yesterday. Tohka didn't understand why Miku was so obsessed with them.
"These are essential! You have to understand that Western and Eastern styles differ greatly. I bought these to learn what people here like. These are some of the hottest albums from recent years!"
Miku responded confidently to Tohka's confusion. Though the way she handled them so carefully made it clear she really liked them too.
"Alright, suit yourself." Tohka shrugged and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. To her, food was much more important than music.
"By the way, Tohka. I've been here for a while now, and I want to hold a concert. I'll need your help with that." While they were eating, Miku suddenly brought it up.
"Huh? So soon? It's only been a few days."
Tohka looked at her in surprise. In her mind, preparing for something like that usually took months. She didn't expect Miku to be so eager already.
"Mm. Compared to going to school, I think singing suits me better."
Miku nodded firmly. She felt like she couldn't find meaning in life without singing.
"Alright… leave it to me…" Tohka agreed without hesitation.
But before she could finish her sentence, she froze—because she had absolutely no idea what to do next. Venue? Songs? Logistics? She didn't know where to begin. So, in the end, she could only look at Miku with a helpless expression, blinking her big eyes, hoping Miku would have a plan.
"Uwu... Kawaii…" Looking at the confused and flustered Tohka, Miku nearly couldn't resist pouncing on her. But she held back—this was serious business.
"I remember Tony said he gave you access to his resources, right? Hurry and check what you actually have access to."
Miku was very clear about one thing—even though Tony had casually said "use any resources you need," that access was no small thing. As long as you weren't dumb, you could become a star easily.