Ore no Yakuza Academia
by: Yidkirkin
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
SPOILERS
"Promoted?"
"Yup! I'm the Cashier manager now!" Aki said, a proud look on his face and royal purple shirt to complement it. "Tokieda-san says he needed someone who's been there awhile who can actually work regularly, and since I was available, he asked me!"
"Aki-kun, that's great! Have you told anyone else?"
Since Izuku had started college and they had both pinned down their schedules, he and Aki tended to get together whenever they had the extra time. They had both been especially busy for the past few weeks though, and so they seemed to have a few big pieces of news to share, tapering off with Aki's achievement.
"Oyaji and Kaa-chan, but I'm probably going to keep it to myself for a little while." Aki followed Izuku up the stairs and grinned. "I don't want any more of the guys coming in and distracting me until I can get a handle on it."
"But you let Yuki-"
"Nnuh-uh-uh, no shittin' on me for that." Aki defended. "If I tell him to leave he gets in a snit about it."
"Don't know why you like him."
"It's called having a big di-" Aki stopped walking, stared at the street while sneering something fierce and then jabbed a finger at whatever it was that caught his attention. "Oh, it's that asshole."
Izuku looked over to where Aki was pointing and caught the tail end of an orange, black and green Hero landing in front of a Villain before an explosion went off, taking out the criminal and obscuring Kacchan from view. They paused in the middle of the raised overpass to get to the train station a few dozen feet away, and as they watched Izuku realized that he had completely forgotten that 'U.A. graduate Kacchan' would be out and about the city just like anyone else. Rather than go to college like some 'schooled Heroes' though, it seemed his former childhood friend had dove straight into his work and not resurfaced for anything else.
"Sure is." They paused a moment so they could see what was going on when the smoke cleared. Kacchan hogtied the Villain and looked to be contacting someone through an earpiece –probably either the police or his Hero office to come and 'collect'.
"...dickhead." Aki muttered, and Izuku snorted before following him away from the action and to their actual destination. "Anyways though, Yukinata's a fun guy, just a little flaky. Oyaji doesn't like him one bit."
"He doesn't seem to like any of the people you date." Izuku pointed out –Aki shrugged.
"He was cool with Eiikichi."
"Eiikichi would've given him grandchildren."
"What's that got to do with anything? And what?" Aki demanded, pretty damn sure his ex-boyfriend hadn't been able to conceive.
Izuku sighed –he hadn't wanted to have this conversation in public, but the train was almost empty anyways and now that it had been brought up there wouldn't be any more putting it off. "You're the Gotouda heir. The Kirishima's too, technically. If you take over you're going to be expected to carry on the family line."
"That's..." Aki frowned –he had known of course, but when you don't think about something for long enough...
"Your parents aren't going to force you to get with someone they pick and have a bunch of munchkins." Izuku steamrolled on, not wanting Aki to misunderstand him. "But they want the family to go on, so they like the partners who might actually stick around. Eiikichi had a mature, fatherly nature; one of Sakura's dreams was to have a family, as you well knew. I know you don't like to think too hard on this stuff, but if you ignore it long enough it'll bite you when it finally comes up."
/
"What the hell was that the other day?"
Izuku tensed when the Erasing Hero plunked down on the bench next to him –on the field, All Might was instructing the students of Class 1-A in Villain Containment options, and to be honest the lesson content wasn't making it any easier for Izuku to put aside his reservations about the man next to him.
"No clue what you're talking about," Izuku deflected, face a little red; Akira hadn't exactly let him leave with grace that night. "I was sick all day, can't even remember what I had for lunch."
"That's because you didn't have lunch, older problem child." Aizawa scoffed when Izuku snorted at Boku's nickname. "Half the staff saw you before I came in. If something freaked you out, we want to know, especially if it has to do with..."
"It didn't have anything to do with the Villains," Izuku cut him off quickly. He really hated it when people got crazy ideas in their heads, especially ones that could conceivably be true. Aizawa kept staring at him, and Izuku felt himself cringing more instinctively at his expectance than at anything he was really asking about; Aizawa's eyebrows disappeared into his bangs.
"Apparently you were calming down a bit before I walked in," he pointed out, correctly, and maybe Izuku could hate this Eraserhead a little bit. "What, am I a Villain ten years from now?"
Izuku couldn't help himself –he brayed a laugh so loud that even Katsuki glanced in his direction from the field, followed by a middle finger like a signature. "By the Buddha's infinite wisdom, that is the single funniest thing I've heard in my life."
"Small comforts," Aizawa grumbled, relaxing a bit. Izuku wondered if he'd actually been worried about something like that. "Spill."
"Sure, sure, just ask so directly, Mr. Hero," Izuku stared out across the field, and watched Boku jump around like a firecracker for a minute or two. His fighting style was a lot spryer than All Might's, that was certain. "Well, when I was sixteen a lot of Heroes went full time after All Might defeated that All for One. Mic stopped teaching pretty quick, considering." Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Aizawa tense. "Actually, a lot of guys in my line of work like him well enough –he's fair and plays good music, so it was kind of an unspoken rule he was cool, so long as he didn't start arresting everyone. But, he's pretty fuckin' loud, y'know. Big target, you can imagine."
"Spit it out," Aizawa growled, and oh, that was the Eraserhead he knew and hated peeking through.
"Ever heard of the Shie Hassai-kai?" Aizawa gave a short shake of his head. "Well, like I said, we all kinda like Mic, so hopefully the info I've been giving Nedzu means you'll never have to. Where I'm from, one of their officers found him snoopin' around their base and nearly ripped his spine out. Oh, don't freak," Izuku was almost offended at the way Aizawa flinched at that bit of info. Was this what Endeavour fans had felt like after that all came out? "He recovered his voice, if not his legs' mobility. Still doin' radio, even."
"What's this got to do with you running off?" Aizawa sounded a little faint.
"C'mon, you're smart. You left UA pretty soon after that, and everyone knew why once the Shie Hassai-kai's assets started disappearing. All the rest of us were pretty happy about it, too, 'cause they're a bunch of Quirk-happy, abusive, standoffish assholes," Izuku chuckled uncomfortably. "O'course, no one fuckin' messed with Mic, or anyone close to you really, after you started using bladed ropes instead of capture bands."
"I'd never," Aizawa flinched back and looked visibly appalled at Izuku's statement. "That's –too far. It'd be too easy for it to get out of hand."
"I believe you'd never," Izuku offered. "'Cause if I thought you were anything like the Eraserhead I know, you'd be bleedin' out right now. Bullet straight to the brain, best case scenario."
Aizawa didn't respond to that, just stared at Izuku sidelong. On the field, Uraraka had just run over to one of the trash bins and thrown up, so it looked like the class was going to be called to a close soon.
"You hadn't guessed? I'm disappointed, Eraser." Izuku forced a grin past the nausea churning in his gut. "My version of you gave me these scars, arrested me, even. Kept me locked in jail for a whole year on false charges!" Izuku laughed again, but this time it wasn't so bright as before. "You, a Villain? That's hysterical. If I saw Mic back home on the street I'd run in the opposite direction; among Yakuza, you're better known than All Might, and avoided more than Shigaraki. You're the Hero I despise most in the world!"
/
"Midoriya Izuku."
Izuku had opened the door to his home, thinking maybe Aki had come calling late since Izuku's mother was away on a birthday trip he arranged for her. Instead he was staring at Gotouda Miyabi, who was alone except for an unfamiliar bodyguard and was waiting to be invited inside.
"Oh, Gotouda-san, good evening." Izuku said haltingly as he stepped back and held the door so Miyabi and her companion could enter. "I'll make some tea?"
"I won't be here long." She said, and went to sit at the dining table while the man stayed by the door –Izuku experienced a strange feeling of déjà vu as he followed Miyabi into his own home. "First, congratulations on your college graduation."
Izuku slid into the chair opposite the Yakuza boss and looked down, embarrassed. "Thank you, I appreciate you saying that."
Miyabi nodded, and was quiet for a minute before continuing. "I am by no means an old woman, but at some point in the future I am going to retire –hopefully not in funeral garb." Izuku didn't laugh, but she had obviously meant the statement as a joke by the quirk to her face. "I will do so either after or with Akira, and Aki will take over for his father –he will face a far harder task leading the Gotouda than any of his ancestors before him. It will be difficult, dangerous, and he may even lose the... tentative legality the Gotouda has previously enjoyed. The Shie Hassai-kai is proof that not all is well with how we conduct business. Upholding even stricter discipline will be of the utmost importance in regards to Quirk usage, and unless he is surrounded by competent comrades the Gotouda avoiding dissolution will not be possible. I presume you know all this?"
"I... had assumed." Or maybe a little more than that, but Miyabi didn't need to know about how often Izuku's thought process mimicked obsession.
"What is it you plan to do now?" She asked seriously, not letting Izuku shy away from the tense atmosphere. "You took Akira's advice on your schooling. You and Aki have remained steady companions for the last six years. But no one has heard what it is you're planning for your future. Have you even considered it?"
"I have, trust me. I've thought about it a lot." Izuku told her uneasily.
"And?" Miyabi prompted.
Izuku remained quiet, bowing his head so that he didn't have to see her expectant expression. He had considered it, he had thought about it now for nearly as long as he'd thought about U.A; deep in thought on those nights he couldn't get to sleep, dogging his mind when he and Aki parted ways, behind his eyes when he sat with the Gotouda-kai at dinnertime. It was an obsession, whether he should or not –the options and advantages and the complications all plaguing his brain and his hidden journals and it had only gotten worse in the time leading up to his graduation.
Izuku kept his head down, clasping his hands to his chest so hard that his shoulders shook, and he didn't even notice that Miyabi had left until a long while later.
/
"Nice place," Izuku said once the creepy bug sidekick had let him into the office –behind the desk, Nighteye didn't respond, and the teenager he was apprenticing, Mirio, straightened in his seat self-consciously. Unlike Eraserhead, this was a Hero Izuku didn't know from his own world, for the reasons they would soon be discussing.
"Thank you for having me, on short notice," Izuku bowed formally; Heroes were unpredictable at best, so treating this like a work meeting was probably the safest option. "May this meeting be prosperous for both our sakes'."
"Indeed," Nighteye's perpetual frown deepened slightly. "Sit."
Izuku smoothly sat down in the indicated chair, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. It was one thing to work at UA with a bunch of semi-retired Heroes and Heroes-in-training, one thing to live with a version of himself so intent on the Heroic path and chosen by the greatest Hero of their time, but it was quite another to willingly venture into an actual Hero Agency and sit across from a Hero who had taken on the Shie-Hassai-kai once, and might again. Izuku felt at a distinct disadvantage.
"I have been briefed on your situation by Principal Nedzu, Midoriya," Nighteye said, his neck craning forward at what looked like a painful angle. "Despite the absolute absurdity of your appearance and subsequent mediocre teaching career, I know nothing about you or your goals and have no reason to trust anything you say. Make me laugh, and we'll talk."
"...Huh?" Izuku blurted in surprise, making the apprentice chitter a little.
"Sir has great respect for humour!" The kid, LeMillion ten years younger, chirped. "You'd be better off indulging him, Yakuza-san! Frankly, 'cause I wanna hear what you've got to sa-ouch!"
"LeMillion, please," Nighteye said, his hand lowering from where he'd briefly tugged on the kid's ear –but he didn't sound condescending. Then the Investigative Hero leaned back in his seat and looked down his nose at Izuku with a piercing stare. "Proceed."
Embarrassingly, Izuku sat there for a solid minute, unable to come up with anything. Make Nighteye laugh? What kind of hare-brained Heroes were there in the world? Would the next one he met try to make him eat a piece of hair as a punishment game or something?
(About an hour away by train, All Might suddenly sneezed and hoped he wasn't coming down with a cold.)
Izuku surreptitiously looked around the office –this Hero was just as big an All Might fan as he had been, once upon a time, if in a more classy way. The rest of the decor was spartan at best and there were no windows either, just the door he'd come in through directly behind him.
Was he really going to have to talk about it?
"Shit, this's a hard bargain," Izuku could feel himself turning red at the sudden thought that popped into his head. "Agh, fine. When I was a little kid, I used to dress up like All Might and pretend-rescue my Okaa-san from Villains."
LeMillion's ever present cheer brightened further, while Nighteye twitched like he wanted to punch something and his stare transformed into a glare; Izuku laughed himself when he noticed that the animosity from Nighteye was actually helping ease his own tension.
"I did it after I was diagnosed Quirkless, too, but that actually sounds kind of sad, now that I think about it. I kept Hero Analysis notebooks all the way up through Middle School, and my room was covered in All Might posters and figurines and everything I could get my hands on," Izuku's cheeks burned at his next statement. "In high school I wore an All Might cosplay to a Yakuza Halloween party and won Worst Pick."
At that, LeMillion actually barked a laugh, but Nighteye remained unfazed. Izuku paused to think over where he was going with this. "I stopped idolizing him once I entered college, but even when I joined up, I still kept an All Might mug –it was my favourite and I always got teased for it among the members. This was after his secret was revealed."
Izuku wondered if that horrible night would ever come to pass in this place –even before he heard all the rumours in prison, that All for One had been a terrifying sight. It was amazing that All Might defeated him once, but what would he do with more than half his power gone? "Ah, that's depressing also, I guess. It's strange to say, but All Might faded into the background after that, with how little Hero work he could do. It wasn't all bad, although the worse parts seem to centre around you and yours." LeMillion wasn't looking quite so cheery anymore. "Let's see, let's see... something funny. Uh, there's tons of times I drank underage and got too stupid to function. I took a kid under my wing and if he gets too emotional he'll grow spikes from his knuckles –once stabbed me in the arm in the middle of a movie. When I was with... well, the first group I worked for had a weird rule about only dressing in traditional clothing. Kumichou-dono has a fetish, apparently. Oh, hey, there was also the time with the Kado-kai!"
"The main group in Fukuoka Prefecture," Nighteye supplied.
"Yeah. Bunch o' hot-headed, work hard play hard, rowdy guys, I'll tell you that much!" Izuku didn't mind talking about them as opposed to the Gotouda or Kirishima; they were too far for Nighteye to bother with them, probably, and right around now were lying low after thelong awaited end of their feud with the Kayano-gumi. "Once I started working under my Boss again, I tagged along with Kumichou-sama up there to meet with their Oyabun. They tend to drink more for whatever reason, it's probably why they do so much stupid shit, and the after-meeting tea got a little... ah, hectic."
"See, the Kado Oyabun hates the Yamasaki-gumi more than anything, and Kumichou-sama had been doing a little digging as a sort of gift, rooting out the Yamasaki's men in the local force," Izuku made a grand gesture with his hands, at ease now despite Nighteye's laser focus. "Turns out Sugaya had bought off more than a few cops and even a Hero, and was trying to muscle in on the Kado-kai's turf! Well, when Oyabun-sama heard that, he couldn't just leave it be! So we packed into an old van, drove around like crazy, and when they stopped in front of the Police Headquarters Oyabun-sama turns to Kumichou-sama and says, 'You were a better pitcher in high school', and hands Kumichou-sama a grenade!"
The high pitched squeak from LeMillion just egged Izuku on. "It definitely caused more than ten million Yen in damages, that's for sure! Then we drove some more, and up we go to the Hero Agency, and wouldn't you know it, another strike!" Izuku was glad Boku wasn't here to hear him tell this story in detail. "And back at the compound, more drinking! I was hungover worse than I've ever been in my life, and I haven't been able to stomach the thought of going back, since I'll probably get liver-poisoning."
"Stop, this is ridiculous," Nighteye suddenly interjected. "Did you think that was funny? It merely showcases to me your twisted mentality and lack of regard for my profession and colleagues." The tall man brought a finger down on the desk top before him and started jabbing it repeatedly as he spoke. "It is utterly moronic that you would choose those flabbergasting snippets to elicit a favourable reaction from me! I am completely dumbfounded and perplexed at your jarring tonal shifts and stupefying lack of a punchline, not to mention your awkward silence right off the bat!"
"Aw, c'mon! I thought I hit it out of the park!"
Several long beats of silence followed Izuku's statement, during which he kept up a staring contest with Nighteye and noticed LeMillion's head switching from one of them to the other, waiting for a reaction.
"'Million," The kid made a noise. "Bring him to Tickle Hell."
"Hey, no, wait!" Izuku put up his hands to try and make LeMillion back off. "Nighteye, you got a stick up your ass or what? Admitt it, you're in stitches! That was a homerun, come on!" Nighteye twitched again and Izuku figured he might as well go for a good streak. "I'm not out yet! Just lemme make my pitch, I know you've got a lot on your plate, bat before you bench me there's a few foul things I can tell you that'll throw a curveball into your operations! It's a loaded topic but you've got a good base here and I swear it'll all come full swing-"
"Haha! I like this guy, Sir!" LeMillion hadn't moved, just sat there snickering on the couch while Nighteye looked increasingly about to blow his top.
"If you don't stop you will not leave here with your voice," Nighteye said, which was a frankly terrifying statement, ten points for effort. Izuku noticed that his murderous expression had cooled a bit, and while the man hadn't laughed per say, it didn't seem like he was going to bring him to 'Tickle Hell' now, whatever that was. "Get on with it, then. Don't waste my time."
"Hah, grump." Izuku didn't feel nearly so much like he had to defer to this man, but he supposed he could go along with his request. "So, main things I'm here to tell you about; the Shie Hassai-kai, their leader, their fucked up goals, and the fact that if you're not careful they'll kill you in less than a year."
"And why exactly would you betray your fellow criminals this way?" Nighteye demanded.
That was the first time anyone had actually thought to question Izuku's whole 'informant' shtick in this world. In any other situation, the thought of being a snitch would've made Izuku kill himself before Aki or Kumichou-sama could get to him; but this place was different. All for One was a super-powered nightmare that wanted to destroy the world or some shit –that was self explanatory. Shigaraki was a pretentious asshole who was hell-bent on murdering All Might, and regardless of the time that elapsed since he was fourteen, Izuku had to admit he didn't want his former idol to bite the bullet.
As for his 'fellow criminals'...
"When I was a kid, the Shie Hassai-kai were on the level. Their Oyabun stuck to how everyone did things and didn't rock the boat, even took in kids that needed a home off the streets. Once Chisaki Kai took over as Boss, that changed." Izuku vividly recalled the one time he had ever seen one of the Villainous Yakuza members from across the street –the plague doctor masks were at least good for letting you avoid certain death. "Everyone hates them, you gotta understand that. They give us an even worse name after all the shit we did to survive through the years; they sling their Quirks around while braying about bringing an end to Quirks; they've killed or maimed Heroes we all thought were decent. And worse, they experiment on children."
And just like that, the two Heroes in front of him were no longer simply humouring him.
/
"Your mother visited me the other day."
Aki stopped stirring the curry and looked over at the uncharacteristically serious Izuku who was leaning against the doorframe into the kitchen, watching Inko snoozing in the living room with the tv still on across from her.
"For what?"
"...she asked me to consider my future." Izuku answered quietly, obviously trying not to wake his mother. "To think about what I plan to do."
Aki frowned and shut the burner off for the moment, turning so he was facing his friend. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
Izuku didn't answer right away, closing his eyes briefly. In the amount of time it took for him to open them, Aki had moved to stand a mere foot away, scowling fiercely.
"Oi, Izuku, what's that supposed to mean?" Aki demanded, visibly frustrated and trying to catch Izuku's suddenly evasive gaze. "What, did she tell you to join the Gotouda-kai or something?"
Aki almost said it like he was joking, but when Izuku lowered his head and remained quiet for longer than he should have, he could see that Aki's shirt had turned that rarely seen, foreboding shade of 'seriousness', a dark, flat grey. He watched as Aki leaned back to rest on his heels as if recoiling away from the all but confirmed notion, small splotches of 'trepidation' appearing on what little of the shirt Izuku could see.
"Fuckin' –she didn't." Still Izuku said nothing. "She –fuck, she doesn't know what she's talkin' about, Izuku. Just forget it, don't think about it, I'll tell her off and that'll be the end of tha-"
"But I do think about it." Izuku interrupted, voice a little wobbly. "I think about it all the time, I can never stop thinking about it. I see your uncle's bullet scars and wonder if you might get some one day, I see the group members around town and smile when they stop to talk, and after having dinner with you all, I want to turn right back around instead of leaving. I've thought about it for nearly fiveyears."
It was quiet but for the far off drone of the television, and Izuku chanced a look up at Aki. His friend had gone pale, and his shirt had turned something Izuku had never seen in the entire time they had known each other –a plain, clean white.
"I accepted not having a Quirk, I moved on from the idea of being a Hero." Izuku said quietly, finally meeting Aki's eyes and not liking the crease in his friend's forehead. "...I can't forget this. Aki, I want to follow where you lead."
/
"Don't move."
Izuku stilled easily at the touch of a gun barrel to the small of his back. Up ahead, a fifteen year old Aki ducked into a convenience store just as a large hand seized Izuku's shoulder and tugged him into the alley nearby.
"Jeez, what's this about?" Izuku asked quietly, keeping his hands wide and visible at his sides. There were more than two people behind him, but as he spoke one of them walked back over to the front of the alley to keep watch, and the gun jabbed a little more insistently into his spine.
They went a suitable distance down the narrow street, just enough that they didn't have to worry about anyone passing by looking closer than the lookout, and then whoever was holding Izuku up shoved at one of his shoulder in an obvious gesture to 'spin'. Izuku didn't particularly want to get shot (but maybe that would send him back?) so he followed the motion, and nearly jerked back in surprise when he saw who was there.
It was Takihaze and another lower member of the Gotouda, Abe. Abruptly, Izuku remembered that before he'd been given the So-Honbuchou position, Takihaze had been Aki's personal bodyguard –hence why he was the first member of the Gotouda Izuku had ever met, besides his Boss of course. By the looks of it the man was in full-on mama bear mode, if the hike in his shoulders and glaring sneer were any indication.
"Why were you tailing our Bocchan?" Takihaze demanded, no less intimidating with ten years taken off the top than he usually was.
"Eh, tailing's a strong word..." Izuku leaned his face away from the muzzle of Takihaze's weapon, feeling just terribly stupid for not thinking this little jaunt through. "It was just..." How can I get out of this? "...professional curiosity?"
"The fuck?" Abe demanded, his own hand ready to grab at the knife he habitually carried under his shirt.
"Yeah, I –well, I'm a... consultant. Midoriya Ore, at your service," Izuku said lamely, scrambling to remember what he had said to people besides Akira in this universe and not exactly wanting to say 'informant', which was probably more accurate when one looked at how many Heroes he'd been talking to lately. "Lots of things, really. Heroics Law advising, accounting, Quirkless integration, and, uh, tutoring. Kumichou-sama asked me to take some notes, see if I can't help Aki-kun prepare somehow," Even a few weeks later, the sting in his cheek from that night echoed when he thought about it. "I'm sure you've noticed as much, Takihaze-san."
"Oyassan didn't mention anything like that," Takihaze said, rightly still wary.
"Well, I don't know if he expected me to do it. Not sure for how long I'll be in town," Izuku hedged; he hoped that if Takihaze actually called Akira, the Gotouda boss wouldn't throw him under the bus for a laugh, or to test him. Eesh. "C'mon, guys, it must say something that I know who you are. Abe-san and Tohara-san over there, too."
Tohara twitched a little at the sound of his name, and after a minute of thought Takihaze lowered the gun, though he kept it at the ready. "Let's say I buy this, Midoriya. You're gonna, what, tell us how best to make Aki into a good boss? Like you know any better?"
"Exactly," Izuku said. Ever since he realized exactly what was different about this dimension, it had stuck in the back of his mind to make an effort to impart the most important lessons of his own into this younger version of his boss –it wasn't as if there was going to be an Izuku here who could do it. "And unless you want him to turn into a moron like the Tomaso line or a fuck up like the Togoku, you're gonna damn well listen to me."
Takihaze winced a little while Abe grumbled resentfully, but Izuku knew he had their attention. Hopefully he could keep it long enough to avoid them going trigger happy on him.
/
"Takihaze-san, how did you get involved with the Gotouda?"
Takihaze thought the question over and then took his apron off, smoothing down his tie and dress shirt before turning to regard Izuku, who was drinking tea at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. It was a rare day when Izuku was at the Gotouda compound and Aki wasn't, but after Izuku had confessed his thoughts a few weeks ago Aki had been avoiding him –and so Izuku had respected that, avoiding his work and only dropping into the house when he knew Aki wouldn't be there.
"I was about twenty and working for clubs as a bouncer on and off, when I could get the shifts. I stopped our bartender from getting harassed by some drunken members of the Omochu-kai. I didn't know it at the time, but that was Oyassan's younger sister." Izuku's eyebrows rose up and Takihaze quirked a grin. "When Oyassan found out, he offered me a stable position as Bocchan's bodyguard, and here I am."
"Do you... was accepting that offer a good thing?"
Takihaze was quiet a minute, scrutinizing Izuku from behind his thin sunglasses and making Izuku feel very self conscious about the question –it was like Takihaze knew exactly why he and Aki had been distant lately and was wondering why Izuku was even bothering to ask.
"In a lot of ways, yes." Takihaze grabbed the kettle and topped off Izuku's tea without asking, getting himself a cup right after. "I don't need to worry about finances much, or affording a doctor. Bocchan is old enough now that I'm less his bodyguard and more the Headquarters Chief, which is more responsibility but less stress." Izuku smiled along with Takihaze's gruff laugh at Aki's expense. "In Yakuza circles being Quirkless isn't an issue, in most cases it's preferable, which was, and still is a great relief. But even without worrying about overzealous Heroes there is the threat of arrest by police, of being ostracized by society, of being killed or injured grievously. My family hasn't spoken to me since they found out."
Izuku frowned and his mother's face came to mind; soft and lined, smiling, laughing like she hadn't for a long time after his father left them so many years ago. Could he really handle it if the mother he loved so dearly were to refuse to even speak to him –could she handle knowing that her only son had already decided to dedicate himself to becoming a criminal?
"I'm selfish, Takihaze-san." Izuku admitted at length. "I know it would hurt my mother if she ever knew I want to follow Aki in this, but I can't bring myself to change my mind."
"...Izuku-kun." Takihaze sighed and scratched at the back of his neck, not used to the position he was in. "You're young. You shouldn't make your mother cry, but you're allowed to be selfish about some things. If I know you at all, I'm sure you've thought it through six ways to Sunday, and I'm sure that you know if going through with it is what you really want. I don't know if following Aki is the right thing for you to do, but you must see how you've made him change since you first met? How much he trusts you?"
"...he does?" Izuku didn't like feeling vulnerable, but there was something about Takihaze that –once you got to know him –just put you in the position where you felt like you could tell him anything that was on your mind. "He's my closest friend, Takihaze-san. He's like my own brother –I don't want this to push us apart."
Takihaze was quiet again for a moment, staring off at something behind Izuku with a critical eye; soon enough though, he huffed shortly and pat Izuku on the back. "Then don't let it."
Izuku heard something move and turned just in time to see a flicker of dark hair disappear behind the doorway; he stared back at Takihaze, who raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to 'get a move on'.
Izuku made it to the base of the stairs in time to see the last step Aki took before he rounded the corner to head to his bedroom. Izuku employed every ounce of strength he had in his legs to race up the steps in record time, but he still had to bodily slam his shoulder into the bedroom door before it could be shut and locked between them.
"F-fuckin' –get off, Izuku!" Aki seethed, but Izuku had already jammed a foot inside and he knew the door wouldn't be closing now.
"No! I can't take this anymore, Aki!" He gave one last push and succeeded in making Aki back off enough that he could burst into his room and tackle him to the ground. Aki hissed angrily, but for all he'd bulked up he still didn't weigh as much as Izuku did. "You know how I feel about this, so stop skirting around the issue and just –just tell me if you hate me or not!"
"What?" Aki stopped struggling and stared up at Izuku like he'd just announced that he was going to be the next All Might. "What are you talking about?"
"Obviously there's something wrong with me wanting to join the Gotouda, but –but nothing I can think of makes sense! You're avoiding me and I hate it, if what I said has made you ch-change your opinion of me, then just tell me." Izuku hated the tears that started pouring out of his eyes –he hadn't cried in a long while, it seemed –and he hated even more the way that Aki was quiet below him. "I can't forget that this is what I want to do. But if you don't –if you don't want me here anymore, then just tell me and I'll leave. Just tell me..."
Aki still didn't say anything, so Izuku pushed himself off of his friend and scooted away a few feet, trying to wipe at his eyes to little effect. Everything was quiet except for the shudder of the heater in the corner.
"I don't think you should join the Gotouda-kai." Izuku started to nod in acceptance, but Aki continued. "I want you to go and work for the Kirishima."
"...huh?"
"You heard me, Bakadoriya. Go and work for my mother's family." Aki repeated calmly, sitting up –he pinned Izuku to the spot with a haughty glare. "I've been talking with Oyaji ever since you told me about Kaa-chan. He wants to start training me to take over, but he doesn't think you have enough experience to be ready for when he's thinking. If you go and work for Kaa-chan for a few years, you will be."
"If you do that, then I'll already have someone who knows the Kirishima inside and out." Aki stood up and loomed over Izuku, his shirt a rarely seen dark green 'certain'. "When I take over for Oyaji, I'm going to merge the Kirishima and the Gotouda together. So I need you to do this for me, and when time comes I'm going to need you to be my saiko-komon."
Izuku stared at the hand stretched out towards his face, almost unable to believe his eyes and ears; but he took it just the same.
/
On the weekends Izuku went out for his daily jog early in the morning and came back to find Ore up and about, usually with a half drunk pot of coffee on the counter and the dishes drying in the rack, and he'd long since put it together that the early start to his older counterpart's day was a result of his time spent in prison. True to their agreement he never mentioned any of it to their mother, but sometimes just the thought would keep him up, unable to focus on anything else.
He was no expert in Heroics Law like Ore, but even Izuku knew that a Hero shouldn't have been able to arrest someone Quirkless without a whole mountain of due cause to back them up. Sure, Heroes stopped normal crimes if they were happening right in front of them, but the way the division of labour had broken down since the Cultural Organization Laws were put in place meant that just as often they would ignore a call if the perpetrator wasn't using their Quirk. The Police weren't really just 'Villain Containment Units' like some people joked –they did actually deal with organized crime and fencing, illegal gambling and speeding and all the sorts of crimes that Heroes were too overworked most of the time to bother with.
So what had Ore been doing that made a Hero apparently go out of his way to arrest him –and violently so if the scar of his face was any indication? It was something Izuku was burning to ask his older self, but the way he'd reacted to prodding about his relationship with their mother in the future didn't inspire confidence in Izuku, not to mention the slight threat of using One for All against Izuku if he made Ore too angry. Izuku was so curious but he really couldn't just go up and ask, so he poured all of his obsessive thoughts into a notebook like he always did, and that helped mitigate it somewhat.
Although, it did make Izuku pay more attention to Ore'd daily behaviour, which he probably wouldn't have done if he'd just made himself ask.
Like, after Izuku's jog on the weekend, Ore would inevitably be up and about, but he rarely had breakfast started –even when Izuku could hear his stomach growling Ore didn't do anything about it, like he wasn't used to having to cook the meal for himself. Izuku supposed it made sense –prison and all –but he'd been out for a good while before showing up here, hadn't he? Why hadn't he gotten back into the groove?
Izuku always showered when he got back because he hated feeling gross and sweaty when he ate, and usually Ore was already gone by the time Izuku came out of the bathroom; he'd taken to visiting Nedzu early on the weekends, at a nearby Hero office instead of all the way out to UA, so he didn't get back to the apartment until lunch, usually. While Izuku did his homework, Inko would fold the laundry and Ore would make something to eat for all of them –he could cook, at least –and lately he'd go out walking in the afternoon, sometimes followed by his delinquent-ducklings and sometimes in the vague direction of where Izuku knew the Gotouda-kai compound was, after some research to that effect.
It was around dinner that the interesting things happened, at least to Izuku.
Ore would return from his walking and insist on helping Inko with the meal prep, or take over the operation altogether if their mother was feeling particularly tired. He got a little less tired looking when he was chopping and sautéing so Inko never refused him, instead she used the opportunity to chat with him a little, or ask Izuku himself about his week at school or his work outs. So used to keeping an eye on Ore, Izuku almost always noticed how he straightened when Inko addressed him, or flinched subtly when she touched him unexpectedly.
Ore's portions were... smaller, than they should be, and when Izuku did some more research he came upon the so-called 'meal plan' implemented in most Japanese prisons and felt a little sick at the thought of eating that for a week, let alone a full calendar year. He also finished his meal fast, and did the dishes while Izuku and Inko were still eating if their mother didn't bid him to stay at the table. Kaa-san always watched a little bit of television in the evenings, and Ore would be right there with her –ostensibly to work on his lesson plans, sitting seiza at the kotatsu, which, how did his legs not fall off? –but Izuku noticed the glances he habitually threw at Inko, and he would wonder again just what happened between them.
A few times Izuku had woken up in the middle of the night and gone out to grab a glass of water from the kitchen, and it wasn't like he was watching or anything, but Ore was right there as he passed by. The older man was always stock still and flat on his back on the couch; it was like he never moved, nor did he make any noise, somehow, when it was obvious he wasn't sleeping well. Izuku sometimes caught him with his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling in the dark, and didn't that just spook him to no end.
And the following day it would all go on again, like a finely tuned clock, and Izuku would note all the same things one after another. Ore would be more or less grumpy, more or less talkative, but always deferred to Inko at the drop of a hat. In class he would be more or less open, more or less criminally inclined, but never seemed like he was completely tuned in –like he was holding himself apart from the class and the staff except when he made little exceptions here and there in the lull of the late afternoon.
In equal measure, Izuku couldn't help but wonder what this version of him was really like, and at the same time not be sure that he ever really wanted to find out.
/
After that, a lot of things changed in a short amount of time.
Izuku made the hours long trip out to the Kirishima compound by himself, and when he was finally allowed to have an audience with Miyabi he touched his forehead to the floor and begged to be allowed to work for her, in any capacity. He didn't tell her of Aki's plan to merge the two groups –he figured that it should be a conversation they had themselves –but he did say that he was asking for employment in order to become a better right hand for Aki. Miyabi seemed to find that statement worth her time, and in the end she started him in the cleaning staff with a promise to move him up if he proved capable in each position.
All while wearing traditional clothing, but that was the least of his worries.
In all honesty, few things remained in his mind from those several years living mostly separated from his family and friends. He remembered the holidays after the first six months the best; when he had been promoted to a regular lower member and accompanied Miyabi to the Gotouda compound for however long she would be staying with her husband and son. Izuku's time with his mother was also pride of place among those memories, the few days off he was given every so often to do as he pleased he almost always used to go back to his mother's home and regale her with (modified) stories of the live-in job he had fallen into.
Those years were a blur but for who the Kirishima were and a few shining lights in between. Aki, the day he quit the grocery store so he could accompany his father to diplomatic meetings and learn proper conduct. Miyabi, when she looked him up and down and told him to head over to the Gotouda's tattoo artist and start planning something out. His mother, when he turned twenty-two and she gave him his father's watch and her father's necklace. The five seven-hour sessions it took for his arm piece to be finished, and the looks on Aki and his mother's faces when he showed it off to them the first time.
The week he accompanied Miyabi to the Gotouda compound for a series of meeting around the early alliance talks when he was freshly twenty-three, he was coming back from an errand and came across a teenager –maybe sixteen at the very most –pickpocketing a Gotouda member who had just pushed a few people out of his way on the street. He'd picked him up by the scruff of his collar and asked him just what he thought he was doing.
"That guy's being a prick! So I'm gonna put his money to better use," the kid said, twisting around to glare petulantly at Izuku. "C'mon, man, lemme go!"
"You shouldn't pickpocket from Yakuza, kid." Izuku sighed, and when he plopped the kid on his feet he held out a hand expectantly. The teen handed it over, mulish, and jumped in surprise when Izuku emptied the thing of its bills and slapped them back into his hand. "But to be honest, Kumoi was being a shithead there. Don't tell him I said that." Izuku waved the kid off with a wink and went right back into the compound, missing the stunned look on the kids' face.
A month or two later, he was back, unexpectedly, and just as suddenly there the kid was again, hanging out near a Gotouda building and casually picking pockets. When he saw the kid's hand flash into a garish blue suit and then just as quickly drop the wallet on the ground, he sighed, wondered why he was doing this to himself, and went downstairs to scold him.
"Gah, you're here?!" The kid exclaimed. His jean vest was a little dirtier than last time, and he looked sick; his red hair was wilting, and the sharp teeth that peeked out from his mouth were yellow, and missing an incisor.
"What did I say about stealing from Yakuza?" Izuku asked, nodding his head in the direction the two unfamiliar gang members had walked.
"Well, I don't usually..." The kid hemmed and hawed. "Lately it's just they're the ones being shitty. You can't blame me."
"Kid, you're gonna get yourself killed," Izuku sighed. "Yakuza aren't all like the Gotouda, y'know. Most would kill you if they caught you."
"You're the only one who ever catches me." He retorted cheekily. "What's your name, Aniki?"
"Izuku." And then the kid told him he was named Soga, and that should have been that.
But Izuku caught him a third time, and this time he decided to punch Soga right in the crown of his head and pocket the money himself, and he ignored how thin the kid had got in just a few weeks.
"Hey! You can't just do that!" Soga protested, and Izuku snorted.
"I can and I will. Maybe this'll teach you," he pinched Soga's cheek for good measure and received an affronted growl from the teenager. "What are you, So-kun, some kind of Vigilante?" Soga grumbled that he would never, and so Izuku lessened his grip. "You're gonna get hurt one of these days, you know that? Why do you keep doing this when I've explicitly told you not to?"
Soga said nothing, even after Izuku grilled him for a few minutes, and so Izuku waved him off with a sigh. He should have taken him to a restaurant, then. He should have plied Soga with food until he told Izuku what was going on, and then he should have let him sleep on his couch or Aki's or asked Inko to house him for a little while –but that isn't what happened. That was the last Izuku would see of Soga for six months.
/