It was not until he had a few years on him that Chisaki had officially joined the Shie Hassaikai; no respected yakuza group would let some kid they just picked up off the street a bonafide member right off the bat, though the boss had made no secret of just what Chisaki was getting himself into when he accepted his offer to come with him. Perhaps the older man hadn't expected Chisaki to immediately jump at the opportunity, but the general idea was that he would have to do something to earn his keep.

True to his convictions, Chisaki had not even briefly entertained any other options but to join the organization; after all, what better way to show his gratitude than to work directly under the boss man himself?

At any rate, Chisaki's life beforehand had not exactly been one of tranquility in the first place; most people in his position found themselves in his shoes at one point, albeit they typically became petty villains in their own right or joined novice street gangs. In Chisaki's opinion, being an official member of the Shie Hassaikai was an honor.

But it wasn't going to be easy; the chances of him dying an early death, even with his exceptional Quirk, weren't anything to laugh at. And while Chisaki planned to live a long time in order to get the yakuza back to being the kingpins of the crime scene, he had also accepted the fact that there would always be a risk.

So when Chisaki woke up in a dark, dank, most likely abandoned warehouse that was one of the Shie Hassaikai's base of trade, he could only find it in himself to be more irritated than frightened. The place was a pigsty.

"You up? Finally."

Yoshinori had smacked him to knock the last traces of unconsciousness from Chisaki's eyes; now he was alert and staring up at the enforcer with a dull glare. The older man's face had shaped itself back to his original bone structure; his Quirk was definitely useful for someone who was on the wrong side of the law. While Yoshinori was unable to change his actual body, he could easily make his face morph into a perfect copy of pretty much anyone as long as he had a good look at the original. Infiltrating a hospital with only somewhat strong security wouldn't be impossible, even for a guy whose only physical strength came from street fighting.

"Who did you know on the inside?"

"Not me. Remember Koibuchi? He's been collecting from one of those laundry guys; it was easy to stuff you in the one of those baskets with your arms blown off. I snuck out, no fuss; the fuckers are probably running around that place like chickens with their heads cut off wondering what happened."

Yoshinori plopped down in front of Chisaki with a cigarette; the other man's legs were tied up for insurance. No need to risk him making a run for it. "But we were the only ones involved with the job; the rest of the guys who weren't at the compound have scattered for now until the heat dies down." he blew smoke right in Chisaki's face. "Wow you look like shit. Sure glad I wasn't there; I bet you wish you hadn't gone against the code now, huh?"

"If you're going to kill me, shut up and do it. And get that filthy cancer stick out of my face."

"Still an arrogant son of a bitch. I don't know why the boss is wasting his time. Well, wasted his time."

Chisaki's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"He's dead. Died a few days ago actually; I was able to visit him the day before he passed, and it wasn't easy to find a face the cops wouldn't recognize, I'll tell you that."

Despite his flippant tone, there was a trace of regret in Yoshinori's unblinking glare.

"He could barely even speak, but he made us swear up and down to follow his last will and testament. 'Course if it was up to me, your legs would be sawed off and you'd be left here to bleed out and chewed up by the rats. I'm still thinking it over, so you might want to watch your mouth."

"He's...dead?"

"Yeah, did your ears get ripped off too? Fucking hell, do you ever listen? That's what got us fucked in the first place." Yoshinori's tone turned heated. "The Shie Hassaikai is fragmented because of your big fucking plans. Boss man was always too damn soft on you, and where'd it get him? Stabbed in the fucking back."

A tense silence filled the air as Yoshinori stabbed out his cigarette on the end of Chisaki's amputation; the bound man didn't wince or look away from the hostile glare. He wouldn't show weakness in front of the enemy.

"So you really can't use your Quirk? Serves you right." A smile made its way to Yoshinori's cracked lips. "Anyway, unlike you, I'm loyal to what the yakuza is meant to represent. I won't break my promise to the boss."

Chisaki watched as Yoshinori searched through his jacket pocket for his lighter. "What did he say?"

"First off, I can't kill ya. Ah well." Yoshinori sighed. "Second, we bust you out; boss man said that no matter how wrong you were, the fact still was you did what you did for the Shie Hassaikai. I guess he's hoping you've seen the error of your ways."

Chisaki remained silent.

"You really were like his kid, ya know that Overhaul? Hell, he even asked me to give you a cut of what he'd been hiding away. 'I don't want the stubborn fool to have nothing all over again' , he said."

Members of the Shie Hassaikai didn't have bank accounts or savings or trust funds; they kept all their money in cold, hard cash and stowed it away in various hidey holes. It was better to only have so much in a legitimate account when the proper authorities busted a member and went to seize his assets. This way even if the man was apprehended, they couldn't get at his life's earnings; a big share of any money the members made went to the boss of course, who invested it accordingly.

Yoshinori grunted. "Yeah, and he heard about your arms. Said he wanted our prosthetic dealer to hook you up; no complaints there. After all, as long as you can't use that goddamn Quirk, you're useless like this. Ah, and the final condition; once we get this business done and over with, you don't show your fucking face around us. Ever."

Chisaki raised his head. "I'm guessing that means I'm kicked out."

"Yep. Be grateful we're not hanging you by a hook through your asshole."

Yoshinori waited for the sharp tongued retort but there was none; Chisaki was staring into space, speechless. Despite the lingering threat of death and Yoshinori's barely restrained hostility, it was the forceful discharge that was the more stressful news; after all, if he died, it was supposed to be as a yakuza, a made man.

Not a cripple. Not like this, a nobody.

"I see."

Yoshinori scoffed. "I'm out. I'll tell Doc to come in when I leave; my part is done."

As he stood up and stretched, the older man pulled three packages wrapped in newspaper out of his jacket and tossed the bundles at Chisaki's bound feet.

"Here. Call it severance pay. And Overhaul, remember, you try to come up in our territory, the deal is off. I'll be the one to finish what that handman started."

Chisaki was left for a few minutes in dead silence; a rat ran past over one of the packages, nibbling at the corner of the paper before scurrying off when it realized there was no food inside.

"He's...dead."

A coldness he had never known swept through his veins and stayed there.

Chisaki was angry; even after everything that had happened, the boss was both looking after him and disapproving of him from the grave.

"He's dead."

Now more than ever he longed for Kiyoko's touch, anything to make this angry, painful emotion leave him. Anything to make the burning in his eyes and chest and brain stop.

His last words to the boss had been an apology for the ensuing noise.

"I won't apologize for the what I did. If only he had just listened and supported the plan sooner, we could have had more time, more chances, he could have seen for himself-!"

Chisaki stopped his own train of thought; the emotions were muted as soon as they came. After all, there was no point in 'if onlys'. He had no means to rewind the past and no way to bring back the dead.

"Hey there, thanks for waiting."

The doctor was strolling into the dark space, a battered but sturdy suitcase in tow on small wheels behind him. "Now, first things first-I assume you have the money to pay for my services?"

"Yes."

"Okey dokey." The doctor took out a rusted scalpel. "I'm going to cut these ropes; I doubt you're going to run, or get that far with no arms to balance you out."

"Fine."

"Not a big talker, eh? Well that's fine for me, makes me able to focus." Unlike Yoshinori, the doctor was significantly younger, perhap Chisaki's age or a couple years older. He cut through the tightly knotted ropes easily enough. "So, let's get to it. I have a pretty decent selection with me right now, but if you want customized models I'll need some time to get the parts together from my dealer."

"There's no need." Chisaki rose up with his own legs from a crouch; he kept his feet close to the cash in case the doctor decided to run off. "I only want to be able to have them function as necessary."

"So gripping, grabbing, holding, all that? I have models that lift anywhere from fifty to two hundred pounds. Of course it costs extra depending on how much strength you want them to have. What's your name?"

"Overhaul."

"Keeping to aliases huh? I get how it is. I'm Hotetsu, but you can just call me Doctor or Doc if it suits you." Hotetsu chuckled; it was no skin off his nose what his customer wanted to be called, as long as they weren't broke or planning to rob his merchandise. "So, what are you looking for?"

"I'm not looking for anything unreasonable. I want to be able to use the prosthetics at least as well as I would my original hands."

"I can make it pretty close. Technology, right? It seems anything it possible these days-oops, almost dropped my scalpel." Hotetsu held out his hand and the little blade came flying back. "Neat huh? I can't magnetize large items of course, but this comes in handy when I misplace my tools. I hear your Quirk was a doozy; being able to take things apart and put them back together would be real useful in my line of work. Shame you can't activate it without using your hands, but-"

"Pardon me, but I would rather not discuss this."

"Oh sorry, sorry, my bad. Anywho, how's this little number for ya? Now you see how this works is that the cables hook up to-"

"I know how they work. A few members of the Shie Hassaikai have been customers of yours in the past."

Hotetsu's eyebrows went to his hairline. "Really? I don't remember your face-wait, were you part of that unit with the masks? Oh, this makes sense boy, does Yoshinori hate your guts. Can't believe you're still alive-"

"Doctor, if you don't mind."

"Yes, right!" Hotetsu began the fitting. "Now I brought pairs specifically because Yoshinori told me ahead of time about your, er, condition. With these models you'll hardly need any maintenance, they're as good as the stuff you'd get from that hospital. Only thing you're missing is getting hooked up by some cute nurse, but hey, if life was fair you wouldn't be needing these in the first place!"

Chisaki was only half lost in thought, but decided to let the man ramble; he was too drained to make threats.

"How was it in that place? I bet they never had a yakuza in their ward; did they keep you in your own room or shove you in with a few others? I always figured it was kinda like the joint, but in a hospital."

"I had my own room. They didn't feel much need to restrain me without my powers."

"Right, right, that makes sense. Okay, try out the right one first and then the left; flex the fingers for me, there ya go. You'll need to break them in of course, but you'll get the hang of them in no time. Of course if you want to browse, I have other options for you in the bottom of my bag, and like I said custom jobs-"

The only reason Chisaki was not using his new prosthetics to strangle the back alley doctor in front of him was because he knew Yoshinori would not take kindly to the offense. The last thing he needed at the moment was to cause trouble for himself; so instead of wrapping the mechanical fingers around the other man's windpipe, Chisaki picked up one of the bundles of money to tear off the newspaper and count out the money inside. It was a strange sensation, but Chisaki couldn't quite explain the relief it was to be able to move his limbs and produce results.

"How much?"

"Well, the normal rate is 500,000 yen an arm, but out of respect for your boss, I'll only charge you 800,000 this time." Hotetsu said cheerfully; the first step in maintaining good business relationship was to cut the customer a break, usually on the first transaction. "You know, I heard he was a pretty decent guy as far as yakuza went; a gangster with a heart, real last of his kind stuff. But I guess it's that way for most of you guys now."

Chisaki handed him the bills. "No arguments there."

"Thank you!" Hotestus pocketed the money with an almost childish grin like he had just gotten a handful of candies for free. "Oh hey, you need a place to crash? I can refer you to a few spots outside of Shie Hassaikai territory for a small fee; the news is buzzing about your escape. It'd be best to lay low for a bit before trying your hand at any new scores. Pardon the expression." he added as an afterthought. "Too bad you don't have Yoshinori's Quirk, but then, you got a pretty plain face behind that freaky bird mask thing. I bet a guy like you can blend in okay enough."

"I don't intend to draw attention to myself in the first place. I won't be needing your services for the time being." Chisaki said plainly. "I could use some clothes other than these hospital scrubs."

"Oh I gotcha covered. Almost thought you wouldn't answer; these fell off the back of the truck this morning." Hotestsu unzipped a large side pocket to his suitcase; he pulled out a pair of jeans and a hooded sweatshirt with a designer logo on the front scrawled in almost illegible font. "Don't have shoes in today though, but those slippers don't look too out there. These will cost you 5,000 yen."

Chisaki knew that for something to 'fall off the back of a truck' it meant the merchandise was stolen goods; still, he didn't have much of a choice. He couldn't afford to make himself a spectacle with freedom at hand.

"Did you wash these?"

"Sure, sure, I go through my products with a fine toothed comb."

"I'll bet." Chisaki replied dryly as he took the clothes and gave the man his money.

"So now that you're a wanted felon, what's next for Overhaul?"

"Ah, funny you should ask."

Chisaki gave Hotetsu a strange look that made the man stop counting his gains and sent a violent shiver down his spine.

"I have a date with a cute nurse."