Despite her years of cultivating her resting bitch face into a blunt weapon that could leave cops mentally and emotionally crippled with the slightest raised eyebrow, Hanabi found it hard not to smile when she saw Izuku enter the meeting room. Pride swelled inside of her, and she found her lips being pulled upwards from the usual hard line that she tried to keep in place. It took all her effort not to start grinning like an idiot.
But she could do that later.
Years of dreaming and hoping had come to a sudden and brilliant reality that only allowed her but a moment to scheme and plot. Now, after months of guiding, steering, and cultivating, she felt like she could take a breath. Now Izuku was truly Amagi, not by her own decree, not by the blood they shared, but by some intangible thing that followed him around that she couldn't quite place.
The other members saw it too.
With Izuku here, the old guard could finally rest with the future of the Amagi being firmly entrusted to him. Slowly, bit by bit, day by day, her role would shift from leading him to guiding him, to be his bastion of wisdom when he needed it. Or just be some crazy pain in the neck he has to put up with. Maybe she should have an end-life crisis and show this generation what the word hellion actually meant.
"Grandma." Izuku nodded and sat in front of her hands on his knees, his back straight, shoulders back and his head held high. His smile was one that she couldn't help but match, one of confidence that bordered on being just cocky enough to do something stupid, but knowing they were good enough to come out of it alive, if only just barely. The only real problem was his wild mess of green hair that seemed to be constantly on the verge of being in the way.
There was no doubt about it: Izuku had fallen in love with this life, the freedom that came with it, and the exhilaration of being just barely on the brink of destruction. When he had shown up here and she lured him in with tricks, deceit, and sabotage, he had been lost, struggling to find a reason to live. So much growth in such a short time.
Hanabi took in a small breath, her smile growing the more she looked at him. Hisashi would have been so proud.
Who knew letting Inko rebuild that bridge would only further cement Izuku as an Amagi?
"Izuku." Even she could hear the smile and pride in her voice. She glanced towards Tanaka and Sho who had sat next to Izuku; they both readily accepted their spots to Izuku's left and right, and ever so slightly behind him. They both knew, either through smarts, or in Tanaka's case instincts so ripe even a fly wouldn't bother with them. "Sho, Tanaka."
"Granny," Tanaka bowed, his boarish face lowering slightly.
Sho gave her a small knowing nod and looked towards Izuku. Truth be told, she and Sho both knew he was only here for the ceremony of the ordeal.
Even Ita was hanging around outside, an eager look on his normally gaunt face.
"Izuku," she began in earnest, straightening her back and flashing him a smile. His place as the young boss was all but official amongst the family. He might reject the title, or he could accept it outright. "While you have been living with us for a while, I haven't asked much from you. At least, nothing that was truly illegal yet."
His smile faded but his head remained high.
"Today, I'm going to change that." Hanabi kept her hands in her lap and stared, not at Izuku, but at the spot right behind him. "I want you, Tanaka, and Sho, to complete a transaction for me." She nodded towards Wakan, who brought out a suitcase and slid it over to Izuku. "It should be as simple as meeting, greeting, and completing the transaction."
Izuku stared at the suitcase for a moment before he looked at her again. "And what are we buying?"
She felt her smile tug at her eyes. "Technically they're called support items, but just because it doesn't fire a damn bullet doesn't mean it's not a weapon. I trust you know why I'm getting these?"
Izuku nodded, his body tensed. "Because of him?"
"Exactly. Can I entrust this task to you?"
Izuku grabbed the case and didn't even bother to look inside of it. "Just tell me when and where."
That time, Hanabi didn't bother to fight her smile.
XXXX
"So… I've been meaning to ask you." Sho started as they pulled up towards their destination, a large storage facility used by the Detnerat company that was apparently the perfect place to conduct a deal like this. As far as companies went, very few people could say anything about Detnerat and not praise them in some fashion, especially those with quirks that made living a normal life difficult. They made support items for the public, not for heroes, though the company's president Rikiya Yotsubashi did just announce that they were looking into creating support items for heroes as well.
And they were buying the prototypes.
"Hmm?" Izuku glanced up from the window, his fingers tapping the case of cash they were supposed to deliver. He understood and agreed with why his grandma had made this choice. Those Nomu were terrifying, and there was a chance that they might go after Eva again. Even if they didn't, Hanabi wanted to be prepared, she had lost in the war against All for One. "What's up, Sho?"
"Well, since your quirk lets you bring your tattoos to life, and Ori is basically a laser printer for tattoos, why don't you have an army or something?"
"Oh!" Tanaka bounced in the front seat and looked back at Izuku. "I know the answer to that one! Can I tell him?"
It was impossible not to smile at Tanaka's eagerness that looked completely out of place on his demonic face.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Right, so, it's like this: since they know that their quirks kind of work based off of intent, they think that just getting a tattoo for the sake of getting a tattoo would be kind of weak. Like, right now all of Izuku's tattoos mean something, Raijin is like his desire to be strong, Hisashi is literally just his dad, Shade is his bond with Eva. Then there's the crows. The crows are helpful and stuff, but they can't really fight, since they don't really mean anything to Izuku or Ori." Tanaka explained all this while moving his arms around and flopping between looking at Izuku and Sho, causing the car to shake as it came to a stop. "At least, that's what Ori told me when I tried to sell her on putting a giant robot on your leg that we could ride around in and like, save the city and stuff."
"That's about right." Izuku's hand went to his neck where a dozen or so crows had been added to form a black inky cloud in the sky of Ori's landscape. The crows had started off as meaningless, little more than a tool for a mission, but now they were a way for him to help protect his family. Both Ori and Eva had a crow in their shadows at all times, and he could drop a crow into someone's shadow just by having his shadow touch theirs.
Tanaka opened the door and placed one foot out. "Alright, I'll head in first and make sure it's legit. You two uhh, wait for me." Tanaka got halfway out of the car and then turned back and looked at Izuku. "Wait, you're in charge… uhh, can I do that thing I just said?"
"Yeah, go ahead Tanaka, we'll be waiting for you."
Izuku had never seen Tanaka's quirk actually in action since oftentimes Tanaka simply didn't need to use it, as he tended to be able to beat people without having to use his quirk. Or maybe, that just was his quirk. Seriously, how was 'not being able to lose in a fight' a legitimate quirk?
"So, how much of that was true, and how much was that just Ori-branded bullshit?" Sho glanced back towards Izuku with a smug eyebrow raised. "Because that girl knows how to shovel shit, and Tanaka ain't afraid to sniff it."
Izuku just shrugged. "There's a lot of guesswork between how our quirks actually interact." Izuku leaned forward and showed off his tattooed arm. "Take for example the background she put on my arm. I can bring it out technically, but the water just acts like water. It's not special, same with the other details, like the fish that live in the pond. They're just fish."
"But, aren't they just drawn as regular fish?"
Izuku sighed and held out his hand and summoned one of the oddball critters Ori had placed into the world she was creating. A fish. That was on fire. It appeared in his hand, its flames flickering, but it produced neither heat nor light. "This is CFK."
"CFK? You mean KFC?"
"Nope, Constantly Flaming Karp."
"That's not a carp." Show glared at the fish and then poked it. "And carp starts with a C."
"Yeah, but then it would make sense, and that just wouldn't do for a fish that was always on fire and swims in a pond."
"Why does this feel like something Ori doodled because she was bored?"
"Because it was. It was also a test." Izuku pulled CFK back into his skin and watched it plop back down in the little pond with its friends. "So yeah, it's not just as simple as drawing cool stuff on my skin. I think they need to mean something. I'm not sure who it needs to mean something to, though."
Izuku leaned back in his seat and glanced towards the entrance of the warehouse where Tanaka had entered. "Uhh, should we go in?"
Show glanced towards the entrance, his brow furrowing. "Yeah… either Tanaka got lost, or he could be talking to someone."
They exited the car, the briefcase secured in Izuku's hand. The tingling sensation of something wrong filled the air before they even entered the warehouse. Izuku's steps fell faster to match his pounding heart, and Sho matched his pace. His breath became tighter and tighter. He felt his skin roil from unease.
He shouldn't have sent Tanaka in alone.
How far could Tanaka's quirk go?
Could he be killed before it activated?
What if it was a different quirk?
Something that didn't fight?
Tanaka stood in the center of the warehouse, completely still save for the small movements that showed he still drew breath. Across from him, standing just as still, was a man in a suit. His wild orange hair looked like a lion's mane, and a Detnerat badge was visible on his chest for all to see. Between the two men was a large crate that had already been opened, its contents missing.
"Tanaka!" Izuku rushed forward, his hand already working on unbuttoning his shirt. "What's wrong, why are you just standing there?" Izuku stepped in front of Tanaka and saw that his face had a blank, almost vacant expression on his face. This wasn't good.
"The crate's empty too." Sho said from behind him. "And this guy looks just as out of it as Tanaka."
A single footstep echoed from every inch of the building. "Honestly, I had expected more from Tanaka." A cold, calculating voice traveled with the constant footfalls. "With all the trouble he had been causing my underlings, I had thought that he would be a bit more of a challenge, that he would simply be able to ignore my quirk, but it turns out that he's just a person."
"Who are you?" Izuku asked. Looking around the rafters, he could see movement: a lot of movement. People were running around up there, sticking to the shadows as best they could like an infestation of rats. A pair of goons emerged from behind the pallets, and their large bodies rivaled Raijin's in terms of sheer bulk. Izuku caught the glimpse of a symbol that made his blood boil: seven black circles all connected on a yellow background. "Tokyo Clan?"
"That's right," the voice continued. "And my underlings have been itching for a chance at revenge for all the times that rabid dogs of yours beat the tar out of them. It doesn't matter if he can't be beaten in a fight if he can't fight back."
"Who are you?" Izuku looked around and nudged Tanaka. "Come on buddy, get up."
"Look, if you don't want to—" Sho started, but never finished, his expression going blank just like Tanaka's.
"Oh? You haven't figured it out yet, Izuku? And after all that time we spent together." The footfalls stopped, and a figure began to emerge from the shadows. His build was familiar, and the way he spoke was nearly on point, but the voice was different. "Honestly, I tried to convince myself that you weren't who you are, but I guess fate has a funny way of fucking with us, doesn't it?"
Izuku felt his heart drop as his fear became real right in front of him.
Hitoshi emerged from the shadows. His wild purple hair was unmistakable, and he was slowly pulling off a black mask that must have changed his voice.
"Hitoshi? What are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Hitoshi laughed and stretched his hands out wide. "I'm the leader of the Tokyo Clan!"
"But what about your dream of—"
Reality snapped shut as Izuku realized what had happened to Tanaka, and what had happened to him. Hitoshi's quirk was brainwashing, and he had walked right into his trap.
"Honestly Izuku, you should know better than anyone." Hitoshi's voice drifted through the fog of his mind. "Dreams mean nothing."
AN: And here we see Sho being a stand in for the readers who ask about Izuku getting more tattoos. It doesn't happen often, but I still want to reaffirm that Izuku is only going to get a new tattoo when there's a reason to. This isn't a pokemon trainer fic.
Also, look, Hitoshi.