A/N: The obligatory bank robbery cliche
Aaaand i'm back! i swear im supposed to be more free after As but it seems like i have more programs what is this sorcery.
anyway! enjoy!
Shift 9
Fujioka Mariko warmed her hands with her steaming cup of matcha as she watched the television. The fervent confessions of the protagonist to her love interest was barely audible, the occasional loud crickets sometimes muffling the television. Her husband was huddled close to her, snoring into his pillow.
The weather was growing hot as summer approached, but the nights were still cool enough for a cup of tea. She blew at it gently, wondering when Kakashi-kun would be back. Poor man seemed so lonely and out-of-place that Mariko, who had always wanted a child, couldn't help but mother him.
A police car drove past, loud and bright in the sleepy twilight hours of the countryside. Its headlights illuminated the gravel road, disappearing from her view as it turned. Then, it sputtered to a halt. A minute or two later, the engine abruptly started again before the police car went down the road it came from, its light dwindling into a small speck on the horizon.
The silence of the night resumed as if it were never disrupted.
Mariko-san edged her way from under the covers, curiosity eating away at her. Her door creaked open as she slowly peeked her head out. It was too dark to see anything. There were sounds at the main door as she reached for the lights. It was already midnight; what was that about? Unless...
"Ah, Mariko-san, sorry, did I wake you up?"
She jolted and somehow managing to find the light switch. The hallway lit up: at the doorframe was Hatake Kakashi, one foot barely in. His mask was down, allowing her to see his sheepish grin.
"Kakashi-san! Welcome back!" She exclaimed, beaming. "Have you eaten? I thought you would take a few more days, I was so worried..."
"Maa, I'm fine Mariko-san, I'll..."
She didn't let him have a word in edgewise. "Nonsense, go to the kitchen, I'll get you something to eat!"
He protested, but she could tell that he was secretly pleased. His aura was glowing a warm orange, after all.
He received his papers and identity card a week later, delivered by Tamakawa.
"Thank you, Assistant Inspector Tamakawa-san."
"I'm going to see you a lot more often now, might as well drop the title," the cat-man said.
Kakashi surveyed him. A second later, he asked, "Want to stay for some soba? Mariko-san cooked extra."
He regarded him cautiously. "I thought you don't like cats."
"Maa, you got that wrong. While I do prefer dogs, I like cats too."
Tamakawa gave a crooked smile. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.
Tamakawa knew he was going to regret everything, look back at that very day, and curse Hatake's name. Oh well, #yolo.
Spring heated into summer as Kakashi slogged away farming. It was laborious, mindless menial work, and very peaceful. Twice per week, Tamakawa would drive over in his patrol car. They would go on a ride, talking aimlessly, trading stories and news. Occasionally, he would stop by for lunch as part of his biweekly routine check to ensure Kakashi hadn't yet run off into the wilderness, never to be seen again.
It was all very routine, mundane, and peaceful.
Too peaceful.
He itched for something to do.
Kakashi was standing in line at the bank, patiently waiting for his turn. The air-conditioner was a much-needed respite from the sweltering heat. Skin-tight jeans were traded out for looser, more cooling cargo pants and long-sleeved shirts were ditched in favour of polo tees that offered more mobility. His ninja pouch was still with him, a constant from his universe.
In his hand was another erotic book, recently bought - not as good as Jiraiya's, but eh, good enough. He knew he could use his smartphone to read, but ahh, what lovely deterrence the book was. Strangers took one look at it and skirted around him in a wide berth.
The Fujiokas had given him scandalised looks before giving up. As long as he didn't read them during meal times or working hours, Mariko wouldn't nag at him.
He was standing in line waiting to open a bank account when three masked men barged through the doors roughly, shouting aggressively and brandishing knives in the air. The leader's grip on the knife looked terrible.
"This is a robbery!" My, oh my, he didn't know that! "Everyone get down! I have a quirk and I'm not afraid to use it!"
Idly, Kakashi wondered why the details of the aforementioned quirk was tellingly missing. Perhaps his quirk was changing the colour of his hair anytime he wanted. That didn't make him any more threatening, although Kakashi conceded that he would also be technically correct. Who would be afraid of using such a quirk?
He patiently waited to see how this unfurled. The civilians gasped and began getting down. A short, green-haired woman hauled her protesting child down with her, anxiously shushing him.
"Where's the heroes? Someone get the heroes!"
They were seriously waiting around for a hero to save them? Speak about over dependency.
He went back to reading his book nonchalantly, until he was the only one still standing.
"Hey, mister! You should get down too!" A man in his twenties whispered to him, tugging his pants lightly.
He gave him a quick smile. "It's okay. I'll handle this."
"Hey, grey haired old man! Get down now, this is a warning!" The leader hollered. He had a constipated expression of immense concentration on his face. Kakashi's eyes twitched. He wasn't that old, and his hair was silver, damnit. He itched to burn the robber's face with a well-placed Katon for that insult.
The knife in the leader's hand trembled before very, excruciatingly slowly, made its way up into the air, wobbling every inch it floated upwards. The robber crowed triumphantly, finally getting a grip on his quirk and stabilising the floating knife. He angled its deadly edge to point towards him.
Ahh, so he did have an offensive quirk after all. A pity; he would have liked to see the robber with neon yellow and striped fuchsia hair. It would look stunning. As in, so-bright-it-hurts-I'm-stunned-such-atrocity-exists stunning.
Kakashi looked up, eyes droopy, and pointed a finger towards himself. "Hmm? You're talking to me?"
"Yeah!" Leader yelled. "I'm tal-" Kakashi went back to reading his book. "-hey! I'm talking to you, old man!" The knife shot through the air towards him; eyes not leaving the page, he caught it midair with one hand.
The bank was deathly silent.
"Can't you see I'm reading? It's the climax," he giggled, narrowed eyes belying his light tone. He tossed the knife up and down, each time catching it without inflicting a single cut on himself.
The bank robber paled dramatically. A baseball bat was pulled out from the bag by his feet and hefted to his shoulder. He lifted his chin higher, radiating nervousness and bluster. In contrast, his sidekicks back-pedalled significantly.
"You think you're so cool, old man? I'll make you pay!" The robber roared as he charged towards Kakashi, oblivious to the multiple cowering civilians between him and the shinobi. The people flinched, some screaming as they tried to scamper out of the roaring man's way.
Kakashi snapped his book shut and slipped it into his waistpouch. In a puff of smoke, he shunshin to stand directly in front the man. He shoved him backwards with both hands. There was an audible cracking of bones as the robber's body snapped back at the sudden force. Immediately, he was sent flying towards the bank's entrance in the opposite direction.
The glass doors shattered upon impact, crashing down onto him. The robber didn't get up from the rubble of broken shards.
His two stunned sidekicks took a moment to react. The first one came wailing, knife raised high above his head, with Sidekick Two just a step behind him. Kakashi dodged the first swing. He grabbed Sidekick One's arm while it was raised above his head in preparation for a second swing and twisted it ruthless, forcing the man to drop the knife. Sidekick One cried out in agony, succumbing as the shinobi forced him onto his knees. Kakashi dropped his hold on One's arm and ducked just in time as Two lunged at him. Using his momentum, he swung one leg out and swept the robber's legs from under him. Sidekick Two fell into a groaning heap of uncoordinated limbs.
"Look out!"
Sidekick One had taken the opportunity to clamber clumsily to his feet. He came at Kakashi from an angle behind him, barely in his peripheral. The shinobi disarmed the knife in his possession with ease and punched him in the stomach. He skidded onto the floor. A second later, his own knife landed dangerously close to his crotch as a warning.
He gulped, whimpered, and closed his eyes in defeat.
Kakashi surveyed the three wannabe robbers, hands on hip. No civilians injured; no torn or damaged clothes; criminals apprehended alive; only the wall, glass doors and floor were damaged. Phew; torn pants would have been awkward.
"Tch," he grumbled, reaching for his book again. "You guys suck."
The police chose that exact moment to arrive. "Police! Freeze!"
He raised one hand in surrender without looking up from the book.
"Put tha — ohhh, come on. Seriously?" A familiar voice groaned.
Peeking over his book, Kakashi met the gaze of Tamakawa with his gun trained on him. The police officer pointed his gun away. Hesitantly, his subordinates followed suit.
"Yo," he said simply, giving an eyesmile.
Tamakawa facepalmed. "Hatake-san, you are a menace."
"—so cool, did you see that? Mum, did you see that? He took them out in a single hit, just wham!"
"I know, darling."
"He didn't even use his quirk!" The boy thought through that. "Much," he amended.
His mother ruffled his green hair, smiling nervously. "We're glad that he's there to stop them, ne?"
"Yeah, he's strong like All Might, but I wonder what's his quirk..." The boy muttered intensively under his breath for a few moments before a dreamy expression overtook his features. "Wonder if I can be like him too, taking down villains easily just by physical force."
"I didn't do anything wrong," Kakashi complaint for the thousandth time in the police station. At least they didn't handcuff him.
"Use of quirk in public area, fighting—"
"They were robbers, what was I supposed to do, stand and watch? And all I did was one jutsu. One academic level jutsu!" He could have burnt them down with a fireball for the old man comment, but nooooo. He was nice, he exercised self-control, and this was how the world repaid him?
Tamakawa sighed. He had been doing a lot of that lately. "Can you don't make this any more difficult than it already is? Just let me finish the report, damnit."
"Maa, but I'm not in trouble, am I, Tamakawa-san?" Tamakawa didn't even need to look up to know a pout adorned the shinobi's expression, as if he was a kicked puppy abandoned to face the cruel world alone.
"No; the public loves their anonymous saviours and citizens are fawning over your heroic deed. You're getting off with a warning this time round."
"I knew it," he said, radiating smugness.
"And stop acting cute, you're 45, for gods' sake."
"I'm 45 and cute."
"Don't make me puke."
Policeman Sato and Ito cowered when they saw him, much to his amusement. Kakashi flashed them an eyesmile and a peace sign before he shunshin out of the Koban. Both police officers cursed his name as they cleaned up the pile of leaves he left behind.
Sato flipped his records incredulously. "What is he? He took out three robbers, just like that?"
"Remember he took out an entire villain organisation by himself too? With no recorded formal training. No UA, no hero academy. Just — how?"
"It's like he's not even human."
"He's not," Tamakawa said absently as he uncapped his jar of milk. "He's a demon."
"What?" They exclaimed unanimously.
"Yeah. Summoned from a pentagon and all that. In fact, he's the demon that the cult summoned."
Sato and Ito paled dramatically. "T-T-Tamakawa-san, you're joking, right?"
His eyes glinted mischievously. "Not at all."
When Tamakawa walked into the Kōban the next day, he actually reeled back in shock. "Sato-san? Why are there talismans everywhere?"
"To ward off ayakashi."
There was a long pause, in which Tamakawa pondered over what he had done. Or, well, started.
"I've also prepared a box of garlic, glutinous rice*, adzuki beans, salt, rosemary and iron."
Garlic, rosemary and iron? Sato was going all out if he even subscribed to other countries' lores and evil-warding methods. He wasn't pulling any punches.
Kakashi would be in for a surprise the next time Sato and him meet. Tamakawa felt a tad guilty. Then, remembering the amount of extra paperwork Kakashi had deliberately put him through, he immediately changed his mind. No, this was hilarious.
"Tamakawa-san, do you think this holy water will w-ward him off? I'm thinking of spraying it if he appears here again."
He snickered. "Definitely."
Kakashi was hiding from the afternoon sun beside his lone straw brethren when he sensed a presence watching him. Their chakra was barely a ping to his senses — a civilian. Useless information when practically everyone in this world with a civilian with much lower chakra levels. It would require more effort to pinpoint the exact location of the person.
He looked around surreptitiously; whoever it was wasn't obviously apparent. The presence felt non-threatening, but paranoia also forced him to check it out. Naruto's pranks were non-threatening but that didn't make them any less unpleasant.
Leaning against the field scarecrow, he closed his eyes in a semblance of napping. Gathering his chakra around him, he casted them onto his surroundings like a net. Ah — there! Locating his little stalker, he turned around and faced the nearby bush.
"I know you're there," he said lazily. "Why don't you come out?"
The bush emitted a squeak.
"I won't bite," he added, tapping on his mask. "Come on."
The bush grew a pair of eyes that blinked at him. Slowly, hesitantly, a figure extracted himself out from the shrub, his messy tuft of green hair almost indistinguishable from the colour of the leaves. A middle-schooler stood before him, green eyes downcast and fingers pressing against each other nervously. Freckles sprinkled over his cherub cheeks cutely.
"H-hi?" He squeaked.
Ahh, kids. Kakashi eye-smiled, giving the boy a jaunty, two-fingered salute. "Yo. What are you doing, stalking me?"
"I wasn't stalking you! I happened to see you and I live nearby and I didn't know you live nearby too. I saw you at the bank two days ago, you were so cool. The way you took down the villains without even breaking a sweat is amazing! Do you train everyday? You look like you train everyday, and that'll explain the weird burn marks i saw at the edge of the forest, but then that doesn't make sense because isn't your quirk similar to teleportation? What's your quirk? Can you teach me to fight like you?" It all came rushing out, each sentence faster and louder than the other. The boy rattled it all in one breath then looked at him expectantly.
He blinked slowly. "Can you repeat that, ah, slowly? And maybe introduce yourself first?"
The boy flushed a rose red that reached the tip of his ears. "S-sorry! I'm Midoriya Izuku, nice to meet you!"
End of Shift 9
*glutinous rice: to ward off jiangshi (reanimated corpse). They're reaaaally not taking any chances.
Hope that was okay! comments? :)
i can't reply to all the reviews here but i really appreciate them! thank you so much :D
-littlesparrowkeet
Reviews
To hdmosprey: thank you! :D HAHAAH i tried to show the shifting of power in the interview but was unsure if it was executed well enough ^^ so i'm rly glad you like it!
To SakuraLuck: yaaaas ikr AAHAH thank you so much! yeah i thought that at that age, he won't want to interfere until necessary, and prefers the least energy-consuming method to get his way AHAHAH instead of being weak or whatnot, i like to think of him as deliberately withholding his skills so that he has the element of surprise :D
To Milye6: yeah heh i didn't want to drag it out and do that whole pull-tug-i-wont-tell-you-anything-we-dont-trust-each-other 10 chapters physical power display one-up-each-other thing cuz I'm lazy XD you'll see Takawamafhfjnejn cat-man a lot more from now onwards tho AHAHAH
To BloodySS2God: unfortunately, Hizashi is Present Mic's name - Yamada Hizashi. Izuku's dad's name is Hisashi. ^^ thank you, glad you like it! :D
To Astoon: thankk youuuu :DD HAHAHHAA wow that sounds interesting but also potentially very messy. can you imagine kakashi finding boruto the manga and then knowing future events? or wondering if changing current manga will change their universe… hmm… interesting…
