The man finally spoke, his voice calm but edged with authority."Firstly, thank you for your interest in Massive Electric Corporation. I trust you've found the environment here… enjoyable?"
"I did," Kouga replied evenly.
He glanced over his shoulder at Siegfried, who gave a lazy two-finger salute from where he leaned against the wall.
"You may refer to me as Mr. Ryoma."
Kouga gave a polite nod
"There is, however, something I'd like to clear up before we continue," Ryoma said, lowering his hands and leaning forward. "You had a brief conversation earlier today with a young lady outside this building. Correct?"
Kouga blinked, realising he was talking about his conversation with Raiden Mei, raising both hands slightly in defense. "Just to be clear, sir, she approached me first. We only talked, so you don't need to worry about her."
"I see," Ryoma interrupted, watching him carefully.
"Of course," Kouga continued. "We just spoke briefly. I wished her good luck and went on my way."
Ryoma gave a slight nod, then tapped a key on the sleek console built into his desk. A monitor to his left flickered to life, displaying Kouga's résumé—one Kouga never submitted.
"Well then," Ryoma continued smoothly, "since you've shown initiative by coming here, let's begin your formal interview. According to Siegfried, you've demonstrated powers involving plant manipulation, spontaneous weapon creation, and… compelling others to answer truthfully. Is that accurate?"
Kouga straightened slightly, regaining composure. "Well, it depends on what you ask. Let's just say… I have more than a hundred superpowers."
Silence.
Both Siegfried and Ryoma stared at him as if he'd grown a second head.
Kouga began to count casually on his fingers. "Let's see… time manipulation, causality manipulation, law manipulation, phasing, magic, soul manipulation, biology manipulation, et cetera, et cetera."
As Kouga rattled off ability after ability, both Ryoma and Siegfried began to sweat. The sheer volume of powers sounded less like a résumé and more like a divine threat.
'Maybe it's best to hire him and keep an eye on him after all,' Ryoma thought grimly, pressing two fingers against his temple.
"Okay," Ryoma finally cut in, raising a hand. "I think I get the gist." He massaged his forehead, already feeling a headache from the possibilities Kouga had just dropped on the table.
Trying to pivot, he asked, "What about your intellect? ME Corp also requires individuals with a good degree of intelligence."
Siegfried had by then sprawled on a nearby chair, sipping wine from a battered flask he'd smuggled in.
"Well, I have an IQ of about 600, last I remember," Kouga answered.
Siegfried promptly choked and spat his drink across the floor, coughing. "Six… six what now?!"
"Yeah," Kouga continued, unfazed. "I could easily create a cure for a newly discovered virus in a day or two, or build a robot out of scrap metal if you gave me the parts."
Both Ryoma and Siegfried could only stare, eyes wide as dinner plates.
The interview dragged on a few minutes longer, Ryoma defaulting to safer questions—experience, availability, work preferences. Kouga answered them all with the earnestness of someone just trying to settle into a new life, even if the content made him sound like the Swiss Army knife of gods.
Finally, Ryoma stood, smoothing his tie. "You'll receive an official response by the end of the day," he said evenly. A pause—then, with the faintest smirk: "But between us… welcome aboard."
Kouga smiled, rose, and shook Ryoma's gloved hand firmly.
Behind him, Siegfried was still wiping wine off his jacket, muttering, "IQ six hundred, my ass…"
Kouga went home and told Kiana the news.
"You're late!" Kiana's voice rang from the living room. "I was about to go eat outside!"
Kouga smirked slightly and slipped off his shoes. "Yeah yeah, I actually found a job."
Kiana blinked, pausing mid-step with a ladle still in her hand. "Wait—seriously?"
"Yeah," he said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Massive Electric Corporation. I was at their place after school."
Her eyes widened . "You're telling me the Massive Electric? The huge tech company?"
He nodded. "Got called up for an interview. Met the CEO."
"You what!?" Kiana nearly dropped her thing she is doing. She leaned over , eyes gleaming with surprise and curiosity. "That's insane. What did they say?"
"They hired me," he said simply, already starting to eat. "I start soon."
Kiana slumped into her seat, still stunned. "You just… walked into a job like that? You really are weird…"
Kouga gave a quiet chuckle, keeping his tone even. "Guess I was in the right place at the right time."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's the catch? You're not secretly the CEO's long-lost son or anything, right?"
"Doubt it," Kouga replied with a small grin.
Kiana groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Ugh. You're impossible. Next thing I know, you'll be saying you've got an IQ of six hundred or something."
Kouga glanced at her with a faint smirk but said nothing, continuing to eat.
Meanwhile, back at ME Corporation, the top-floor office lights still glowed against the evening skyline.
Siegfried leaned back in a chair, arms folded, watching Ryoma pour himself a drink. "See? Told you bringing the kid in wasn't a bad idea."
Ryoma swirled the glass slowly, eyes fixed on the city beyond the wide windows. "Bad idea? More like reckless. The boy casually listed off more powers than some organizations have in their entire arsenal."
Siegfried smirked. "Exactly why it's better he's with us, not against us. From what I've seen, Kouga Hayata isn't the type to turn his back on humanity."
Ryoma took a sip, then set the glass down with a faint clink. "…Perhaps. Still, someone like him is a double-edged sword. Power like that could tip the balance of the world—for or against us."
"Yeah," Siegfried admitted, then cracked a grin. "But between you and me? I'd rather have him fighting for us. Makes me sleep a lot easier at night."
Ryoma allowed himself the faintest of smiles. "Then let's make sure it stays that way. Watch him closely, but don't smother him. If he feels cornered, we risk turning that sword against us."
Siegfried gave a lazy salute, pushing off the chair. "Relax, boss. The kid's fine. Besides—he already feels like he's one of us."
Ryoma didn't answer, his pale violet eyes narrowing as he looked out over the skyline. Only one thought lingered in his mind:Let's hope you're right, Siegfried.