You should, but in no time at all, you're driven to use it again...

Emi Fukukawa didn't just need to know that she'd been manipulated, she deserved to know! Such a good, kind-hearted person shouldn't be made a victim of mind-altering hypnosis for such shallow reasons and then left in the dark. You knew the right answer was to tell her...

... And yet, you couldn't. It wasn't as though you'd made up your mind that what you did was okay; you convinced yourself you'd tell her some other time, when the mood was a little less awkward. In the end, that was just cowardice. You didn't want to ruin her good impression of you as someone with the strength of character to avoid ever using that power. Besides, you hadn't had any bad intentions.

In some ways, Emi had been pretty silly herself. She knew the danger that Benefactor's quirk posed and yet she'd been unguarded enough to wear something like that to sleep. Not only that; you were pretty sure her door had been unlocked. This wasn't just a case of being friendly! She'd actually been neglecting her own safety a bit, hadn't she? You'd tried to warn her many times about how dangerous your quirk could be, but every time, she'd laughed it off, saying that if push came to shove, her Outburst quirk would shut down your abilities. How careless she'd been, to go to sleep with you just two rooms over!

... You immediately admonished yourself for those thoughts. Sure, she could afford to be more careful, but this was your mistake in the end, not hers.

Besides, in the end, it had confirmed what you needed it to: your powers were alive and well-- and also still extremely potent. Plus, even now, you heard her singing the theme song from some cartoon or another in a loud, slightly off-key voice from inside the shower, sounding so cheerful that you felt in the wrong for being so morose. Her chipper attitude made you feel like your worries were silly; you hadn't done any real damage.

... But the sounds of the pipes squeaking on, followed by the hard patter of water droplets from the shower-head, reminded you that she was naked in there. Her usual hero outfit was actually pretty form-fitting, apart from the pants, but the "pajamas" she'd shown up in a moment ago were a level beyond that. The image seemed to be burned into your head now... her round, shapely breast, devoid of a bra, had been prepared to slip out of her top if she'd just remained in a ditzy, hypnotized state for a moment longer. Her ass, normally hidden by those jester's parachute pants, instead in tight shorts... and underneath, something so skimpy that it probably wouldn't even hide her pubes from the front, assuming she wasn't shaven smooth.

Suddenly, you felt confused. It didn't seem to add up. Why was she wearing something like that in the first place?

This was actually one situation where Ms. Joke couldn't be your source of learning. Instead, you decided you'd rely upon the internet. She'd told you that you could learn all kinds of things there, but that you had to be careful; some information on the internet was misleading. You weren't sure if you could tell the good from the bad, but you decided that anything was better than letting yourself stew in ignorance. Ms. Joke had told you about a website called Ask-Stuff, where all kinds of individuals were waiting to answer general life questions. You'd be anonymous there, so as long as you didn't let the wrong thing slip, nobody would know that you were one of the Beneficiaries from the news, nor that Ms. Joke was harboring you.

You decided to start off with an introduction.

RenYamada2: I'm an 18 year old boy that's recently taken up residence in a two bedroom apartment with a young, female school-teacher. I'm having some difficulty adjusting to the living arrangement. Is there anyone I can ask for help?

Thankfully, the answers came in quick. It seemed like people were really interested in the subject. Of course, the first answers were mostly about how you ought to change your name to something that didn't sound so much like a real name, but after that, people chimed in with conversation. There were some that seemed like simple curiosity-- where does she teach, how old is she, are you one of her students-- and others were moderators telling everybody to hush and let you talk some more. One of the people seemed a bit more in control than the others and appeared to be one of the more frequent commenters; you decided you'd just focus on his answers for now.

GrapeRush18+: What kind of help do you need? I know a thing or two about this kind of scenario.

Perfect! You decided to rely on this knowledgeable person further.

RenYamada2: I'm in a situation where I feel like I am a burden to her. I want to be helpful and get along with her.

GrapeRush18+: That's admirable. How do you think she sees you?

RenYamada2: She's always friendly with me, but she's friendly with everyone. I think she sees me as someone she needs to protect.

GrapeRush18+: The big sister type. Very interesting. Is she pretty?

This one made you pause. Still, you were anonymous here and so was he... there was no reason to hold back.

RenYamada2: I'd say she's the prettiest person I've ever seen.

There was a pause before your new acquaintance started talking again.

GrapeRush18+: Do you have a picture you can send me?

You knew you couldn't do that and furthermore you had no idea how to do it. You told him you wouldn't send a picture.

GrapeRush18+: That's okay. So you and this very pretty teacher you live with in a small apartment. How does she dress around you?

RenYamada18+: Ordinarily she's always dressed for work. But just today, I saw her in a tiny top and pajama shorts. I think she was wearing a g-string. Is it weird that she's wearing that in front of me?

GrapeRush18+: I could really do better if I had a picture.

RenYamada18+: No, sorry

GrapeRush18+: That's okay. Anyway, she wants to have s*x

GrapeRush18+: It sounds like she's giving you a lot of signals. She wouldn't dress like that around you if she wasn't trying to get your attention. A girl that wears a thong is on the hunt!

GrapeRush18+: You should totally do it before she finds somebody else!

GrapeRush18+: That's why you're asking, isn't it? It's okay. You have my blessing. Do it for all of us! :)

GrapeRush18+: But next time send pics

RenYamada18+: Thank you for the help

You exited out of the chat room quickly after your last message with a frown on your face. Sex? No way... You'd just met Emi literally one day ago. You weren't so naïve as to make up a ridiculous scenario where she'd agreed to watch you because she was horny for you. The idea that she wanted to have sex with you didn't add up. Still, your heart was racing as you listened to her, provocatively humming away inside the shower. Why was she wearing something like that, if she wasn't interested? You closed out Ask-Stuff, then lay down upon the couch in front of the TV with the remote in one hand and your other arm over your face, staring at the ceiling.

Your mind started to go blank. You couldn't come up with anything. Bored and drifting off for a mid-morning nap, you turned your head to stare at the TV program you'd turned on.

From the screen, the smiling, elderly face of Benefactor stared back. It seemed almost to wink at you. As you tried to avert your eyes from the television, you found that everywhere, they met some smiling clown in the room... and a gleam seemed to be in the eye of each of those jesters. It couldn't be said that they were really like him, and yet, you saw him in each of their faces. Just a moment ago, you'd felt love-struck and breathless; suddenly, you felt a growing sense of dread and mental unease. As you buried your head in the pillows to avoid seeing any faces that could be misinterpreted as your old mentor's, you heard his voice come from around you.

"You understand, don't you... Young Ren?" The old man's voice snickered inside your head. "The quirk I gave you, which you renamed to Pendelum, is a power you exert upon others. It requires your concentration. Or it required mine, anyway. But I wonder... Do you know how the 'hand-me-down' version of that quirk works? Are you even fully in control of it? They say some people quirk in their sleep!"

Earlier, that voice had come to you in times where you thought something awful that you didn't want to attribute to yourself. Now, it seemed that it was also going to pop up any time you were facing a conspiracy that you didn't want to look at head on. You sat up and turned off the television set, eliminating his face from the room, but the voice didn't stop.

"When would have been a good time for the lovely Ms. Joke to get changed into that saucy number? Oh yes! At night, when you were asleep. Do you suppose... While you dreamed... You'd already broken that little promise you made to yourself? What if you planted the idea for her to change, right there, in the middle of the night? Why, if I'd known all you need is a pretty face and a nice pair of legs to make you my predecessor proper, I'd have found the right bait earlier! A fine start for you, my boy!"

Your mental state from years of confinement and the events of the last two days was worse than you'd realized. You knew the voice wasn't real, but you argued with it anyway: couldn't she just choose to wear something like that on her own? It wasn't that strange! There was no evidence at all that you controlled her to dress that way.

"Why don't you ask her?"

The answer to that one was obvious.

"No, silly Ren. I meant: why don't you make her tell you? She probably wants to explain herself, anyway. That's right! She knows you're a young man with a young man's urges who must be jumping to conclusions after seeing such a thing. Just give her a little push and then you'll know..."

Shit! That was a vile idea: jumping further down the rabbit hole of using Pendelum against your caretaker, for the sake of figuring out whether you'd already used that power against her in a more dastardly way than you'd anticipated. However... it did make a certain sense. It would actually be much worse if you were using this power recklessly in your sleep, driven only by your libido. Even if it was the messed-up, Benefactor part of your brain that gave you this idea, you owed it to Emi to find out... All you had to do was give her a simple nudge to set your mind at ease. Maybe taking the guilt and confusion out of your brain would push this frustrating delusion of Benefactor out as well. It only seemed to start when your mind became troubled, after all.

This time around, you'd be very careful and deliberate when using Pendelum... For starters, you wouldn't encourage her to tell you until she was out of the shower.

After a lengthy shower, Emi emerged, fully dressed in an airy yellow blouse and lengthy white skirt, though still walking around barefoot. You could tell that she'd made the effort to pick out something presentable, and yet, with all of the context you'd just dove into... your eyes automatically scanned for erotic details. The moistness of her hair out of the shower... the slight red flush on her face from the hot water... the way the thin, black belt high upon her belly hugged to that toned abdomen you'd seen earlier. When she took a seat next to you on the couch with her Bunny Bar-- which she'd neglected to eat earlier-- you practically jumped upright in your seat. You could even smell a pleasant fragrance from her shampoo...

Emi tilted her head and grinned at you, then held out the Bunny Bar like a microphone; seemingly, this fake microphone bit was a go-to joke of hers. "A penny for your thoughts, Ren?" she questioned, sensing that something had changed since last night, beyond just you spotting her provocative sleepwear.

You ended up mumbling a barely intelligible response with a laugh. You were a bit afraid to start trying to hypnotize her into giving you the answer in a trance. After all, this time, she wasn't asleep; it would also be too weird to get close in enough to increase the effect. What if she realized you were trying to hypnotize her again? That would be the worst possible outcome...

But you remembered: no one had ever noticed Benefactor trying to hypnotize a target, not unless he was seen by witnesses or found out after the fact. As long as you were careful, there was no chance you'd be found out. Still feeling disturbingly as though your old mentor was flashing you a thumbs-up for running with his idea, you knit your brow and focused on Emi's face. You began to plant the suggestion while holding eye-contact...

"You'd like to tell Ren why you sleep in such provocative sleep-wear... Tell him the truth... Do you wear a g-string all the time? He won't be freaked out and there's nothing to be embarrassed about either... Tell him your usual night routine."

You watched as her eye-lids began to lower and her smile went from sharp to a little dopey. The hand holding out the bitten-into Bunny Bar began to lower as well, so low that it actually rested upon your chest for a moment. "I think I know what's bugging you... It's about earlier, isn't it? You're wondering why I was dressed that way, right? I guess you probably haven't seen that kind of thing, with how you grew up," she murmured. Her voice was still cheerful, but her lack of a joke made it clear she wasn't her usual self.

You nodded along, while gulping uncomfortably. You'd grabbed yourself a cherry soda before and decided that now seemed like a great time to occupy yourself drinking it.

"I just wear clothes like that when I sleep because I like the feeling of the sheets against my body. Sleeping that close to naked and hugging the sheets to my body makes me feel sexy when I'm sleeping alone... and I usually am," she sighed, then took a casual bite of her Bunny Bar. "You know, actually, last night was the first night in a while I've chosen not to masturbate."

You nearly did a cherry soda spit-take like her earlier one, but ended up gagging a bit instead. Ordinarily, she'd probably have helped you out, but her current ditzy self just wanted to finish getting through your instructions.

"I mean, I have needs like any other girl! I really do wear a g-string all the time, even when I'm in my hero suit. I always want to be ready for action, just in case. People think I'm kind of unapproachable since I'm a pro hero and because of my laughing quirk. That means I'm actually horny a lot of the time. At night, I'll grab one of the toys from under my bed and imagine it's a hot guy while I drill myself with it. It's hard, being a teacher and a hero at the same time... I don't have a lot of time for relationships. I guess you can sympathize. There's a lot of different toys and a lot of different people I envision. You want to go take a look at them? I'll show you the ones I use most of the time!"

This was too much! What the hell was happening?! You'd only tried to give her a little nudge and suddenly, she wanted to tell you her whole masturbation routine in excruciating detail. Benefactor really had given you his full power. The only good news out of this was that you'd proven you hadn't really done anything in your sleep, like fake-Benefactor had hinted at. Desperately, you began to put a counter-hypnotism into her mind before she showed you the use of her whole nightly toy collection:

"You've told Ren enough. It's okay if you use your toys whenever you want to and you don't have to worry about what Ren knows about it."

... The wording there might be a bit suspect, but you thought it ought to be okay. You just wanted her to stop before she did something that would make your earlier infringement of her privacy look saintly. Sure enough, finally, blessedly, she put her normal face on and stuck her Bunny Bar in her mouth, chewing with an idle smile. "Anyway, I guess I relate to you a bit. One of the hard things about having a quirk that forces people to do things is the lack of trust from other people. Before I was the Smile Hero, there was a long time where I had a hard time making friends... People have a hard time trusting somebody who can make them laugh with her quirk, believe it or not! Everybody's always wondering whether they're laughing with you or you're just making them do it. The key is to be a good person so you can build the trust of others; then, soon enough, nobody'll think twice about that Benefactor quirk. Be the kind of person people want to be themselves around; someone who makes people smile and enjoy themselves!" she grinned, crossing her arms and seeming satisfied with her pep talk. "In the end, your quirk isn't evil and neither is mine! Always remember that! There are good hypnotists too, you know?"

... She didn't remember that her pep talk had included an offer to check out her sexual toy collection. For now, the damage seemed to be patched up.

Still, the sense of dread hadn't faded. You were having a hard time remembering all of the hypnosis you'd placed her under by this point. You felt like you'd set a rock rolling downhill with no way to get in front of it... When you'd been a victim of Benefactor's, it had been so easy to take the moral high-road and never use your quirk, because you understood the danger. Now that you were out from under his thumb... What? Did you think you had to keep using it in so-called "harmless" ways just to prove the hero's adage about how what mattered was the intention of the person using a quirk?! Nobody had asked you to do that!

Just stop using your quirk, goddammit!