Nanaue

by Ya Boy Guzma

Giran had found the League a number of new recruits in the wake of Stain's attack. None, however, were more interesting than the indestructible tank with a child's brain and the jaws of a great white. Nanaue didn't know how he ended up in this new world, but the League wanted to be his friends, and give him food. So he followed. "Where go, friends?" King Shark in MHA insert.

2. King Shark - League

A/N: I… genuinely cannot believe just how positive the reaction has been to this fic. The fact there's fifty-plus of you followed and favourited already? I can't leave this go now, can I?

The kind words about how I write Giran besides Nanaue have really been appreciated, thank you. I absolutely love writing that sleazy, slick worm of a man in Incident Zero (this is your chapterly reminder to please go and check it out if you have not), and putting him here to deal with Nanaue was a lot of fun to write too.

In return for your kind words and the enjoyment you all seem to have gotten out of this absolutely delirious dive down a writing rabbit hole, how about another chapter?

(***)

"That wasn't what I asked you, patchwork."

Giran lit a cigarette, the sound of his lighter clicking briefly cutting through the tension in the air of the dingy, backwater bar. Not that this was his bar, of course, with its usual musk and questionable patrons. He was on business, and he'd be lucky to hang out somewhere like this when meeting his usual clients; good booze on the shelves, actual leather on some of the chairs, and a jukebox which didn't carry a dent from someone's head being used to test the jukebox's structural integrity. His client took good care of this little bar.

Kurogiri had a thing for cleanliness, apparently. He must have also had the patience of a saint, to deal with the brat calling himself Tomura Shigaraki.

Shigaraki was sitting on a bar stool, hunched over, in a worn black hoodie and sweatpants. Giran assumed that he was glaring, from the tone of his voice, although it was hard to tell based on the giant hand he was wearing on his face like it was his mask. It was definitely real, and definitely dead, and definitely a little disgusting; Giran was glad at least that he couldn't smell it, although maybe that was due to the cigarette smoke more than anything. Formaldehyde… wasn't for everyone.

Giran had spent most of the night up with Nanaue since he fell through the roof of the bar, and the experience had been fascinating. Nanaue's childlike fascination with everything Giran had told him had been endearing, and Giran found himself becoming a teacher of sorts, running a crash course on Japanese heroics, what Quirks were, and the big things in Japan like UA High, and Stain. Simplifying Stain's ideology to a walking great white had at least proved one thing to Giran; it wasn't just goldfish with a limited attention span.

Still, the details Nanaue had provided had helped Giran understand that Nanaue really had travelled from another world. Nanaue had referred to people having "Meta Abilities" and being "Metahumans", a weird word to hear in his deep voice given his stunted grammar, but he had no idea of what the Meta Liberation Army was. It was safest that way, of course- even if they had money, Giran thought they were lunatics- but it was an insight into another world.

Searches of international Hero and Villain databases, even the ones Giran wasn't supposed to have access to, revealed no news of Ratcatcher 2, the girl King Shark was so fond of. Nor had much come up for Bloodsport, Harley Quinn, or Peacemaker; whatever villain named himself Peacemaker had a sick sense of humour. Giran approved. These were people from another world, no records in history, no listings anywhere, and when Nanaue talked of prevalent heroes like 'Batman' or 'Superman', with no news to report… Nanaue had travelled from somewhere else.

Giran gave up trying to find a logical explanation for why he spoke Japanese quite quickly, however. It would have driven him mad.

Back in the present, Nanaue had agreed to wait until Giran called him to make an introduction, loitering menacingly in the shadows of the alleyway as Giran went to meet the kids he had business with tonight. Kurogiri knew he was bringing another recruit along, but Giran figured that the best thing to do would be cautious, allow for the two known quantities to make their mark and judge how the situation was going before Nanaue made his entrance. That approach seemed to be the right one, all things considered.

It was clear Shigaraki had something against the two new recruits who Giran had brought in to bolster the League's ranks. They were different, that much was certain, partly because the two of them were competent enough in their own right to be good villains and make a splash on society. Perhaps Shigaraki could sense this, and maybe that was part of what was making him so angsty. Maybe Giran was being too kind, though. Maybe he was just a dick.

'Patchwork' was a new nickname for the man who had gotten him riled up, one Giran hadn't heard. Giran loved information, and so he found it infuriating that Dabi had given him so little to go on; the mystery of who lay beneath the facade of indifference and teenage angst would be one he relished unravelling. Dabi's burn scars were dark purple, mottled, somehow more dead than the skin of the hand Shigaraki wore, and Giran could see that one hand had been pulled from the pockets of the trench coat he wore, balled into a fist. "..."

"Jeez," Shigaraki hissed, either unaware of Dabi twitching or uncaring. "Why is everyone so hung up on Stain?"

On Giran's other side, Himiko Toga twitched, moving his hand off of her shoulder where it had been resting. The manic smile on her face hadn't disappeared, and neither had that little blush she seemed to get on her face whenever she got excited, but something about the girl's eyes had changed. Perhaps the mention of her dear Mister Stainy had hit close to home, because something metallic appeared to clink as she moved. Giran regretted not asking how many of the knives she used to bleed her victims dry were on her person at that time. "Hmm…"

"He's all I ever hear about." Shigaraki hauled himself upright from the stool, now standing, facing Toga and Dabi. "It's really pissing me off."

Kurogiri had been a bizarre sight the first time Giran had ever met him, arranging for part-timers to join the raid on the USJ. The immaculate suit didn't ought to have fitted his spectral black form so well, and yet he looked spotless. Giran could see the way his yellow eyes flickered under the dim lighting, and somehow read his emotions better than the clearly-humans in the room. He was nervous. "No, no, Master Tomura-"

His pleading to Shigaraki clearly went unheard, as those two dangerous hands with the Decay Quirk now extended, palms facing Giran's two recruits. No guessing his intentions there. "You two are done!"

What happened next could only be described with a certain amount of guesswork from Giran, because the way in which all four of them moved was ridiculously quick. Clearly Shigaraki had initiated with the attack, but Kurogiri's warping Quirk had intervened, creating a bunch of separate warp gates for each of them. Somehow, the eloquent ghoul had prevented both Toga and Dabi from meeting a premature end, and had also saved Shigaraki from their lightning-quick counter attacks, a blade from Toga and fire from Dabi's arm. These kids were dangerous.

"Master Tomura! No, don't do this!"

Now was probably the time to bring in the third and final recruit.

Giran blew out some smoke from his cigarette and coughed, getting the attention of the complete mess of limbs emerging from the black fog Kurogiri had created. "I would hate to get in the way of you all getting to know each other better, but… there is one more person I'd like you to meet, Shigaraki."

"Another one?" Dabi, caught in the stalemate of warp gates, frowned. "I didn't see anyone with us?"

Shigaraki's head turned to him, and Giran could practically feel the young man's anger vibrating in the air between them. "If you're about to try to trick me into taking another psycho low-level like these two-"

"Come on, Shiggy! There's no way these two count as low level!" Giran heard the growl from the young League of Villains leader as he called him Shiggy, and ploughed on, eager to blitz past his grave error. "And neither does he!"

"If I forgot to mention that there would be another, then that is my error." Kurogiri's head bowed solemnly, still not releasing his Quirk. "I should have informed you after I spoke to Giran, Master Tomura. Giran, if you would be so kind-"

"Sure, I'll show him in now!" Giran slid back towards the door, keeping his eyes on Shigaraki in case his temper overcame him, and called out as he opened it. "Nanaue! You wanna meet some people?"

"People!" There was a loud metallic clattering which signalled the arrival of a heavy shark running up the fire escape, and Nanaue slid to a halt behind Giran in the bar. They had discussed waiting for a little bit so that Giran could deal with Dabi and Toga's introductions, as part of Giran getting his new charge up to speed on the new world he found himself in. Now, Nanaue's face had the look of an excited puppy at the idea of meeting new people. "New friends?"

"You betcha. Nanaue, these lovely people are called the League of Villains. The guy in the black over there? He's the top dog. That's Shigaraki-"

Nanaue made a little noise, interrupting Giran's well-rehearsed introduction. "Giran?"

"Yeah?"

Nanaue pointed solemnly at Shigaraki's face, and the ornament he was wearing. "... Hand."

"... Yes, Nanaue, that is a hand. Good job."

As Nanaue leaned back against the wall, apparently very pleased with himself, Shigaraki was deathly silent for a second, apparently struggling for words. "... What the fuck have you brought me?"

"Some dumb lump with the brain of a toddler." Dabi's input was probably unwelcome, and it was clear from the look of contempt he shot Nanaue that he didn't like the new arrival. "He looks gross."

"I dunno…" Toga's voice was sing-song, and it took Giran a second to realise she was looking at Nanaue's teeth. "I think he looks pretty cute-"

"Perhaps a more formal introduction might be of assistance, broker?" There was some confusion in Kurogiri's voice as well, and Giran didn't like the way the spectre looked at him. "So that we can understand what we're dealing with-"

"I think that's pretty clear." There was venom in Shigaraki's voice as he said this. "I thought we weren't getting any low-levels, Giran."

"Oh, you aren't! How do I put this?" Giran's mind, honed by years of pitching, went into high-gear. "You like your gaming, don't you, Shigaraki?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Me strong." Nanaue piped up at this point, all eyes moving to him. "Giran say all good parties need tank."

"Yes! Exactly!" Giran had doubted how much Nanaue had been paying attention when he had tried to discuss a game-plan for convincing Shigaraki with the walking predator, but it appeared he had been. "And as far as tanks go, this guy is premium. This is Nanaue, otherwise known as King Shark! You won't find anyone more tanky than this guy."

"Huh…" Shigaraki leaned back in his chair, slightly less pissed off than he had been. The gaming analogy had worked a treat; Giran made a mental note. "Can you prove that?"

"Oh, sure!" Giran nodded to Nanaue, knowing this was the chance to show off something he had discovered from his own home turf, testing out the abilities of the one called King Shark. "Nanaue, can we do the thing? Tickle?"

"... Okay."

"What the hell are you-"

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

Every single person besides Giran and Nanaue leaped out of their skin as six gunshots rang out, all from the pistol which Giran had pulled from the inside lining of his favourite purple blazer. Each shot had found its target, as the small and raw marks on Nanaue's skin proved, but the bullets just appeared to bounce off the shark, who seemed completely oblivious to the fact that his sponsor had just shot him six times in the chest. "... Tickles."

"... Okay, what just happened?" Toga was the first to break the silence, the gunsmoke still curling around the tip of the pistol. "You just shot him-"

"And yet, not a scratch, huh?" Giran put the little salesman lilt into his voice, and leaned forward conspiratorially. "Not bad for a guy who doesn't have a Quirk, huh?"

"No Quirk?" Kurogiri's confusion had grown at the sound of that. "What do you mean, no Quirk? Are you telling me that the shark mutation-"

"Is not his Quirk? Absolutely I am. Nor does he have a bulletproof Quirk. Nor is his super strength from a Quirk. Because you're not just looking at any old hunk of carcharadontid muscle, here." Giran patted Nanaue on the shoulder. "Nanaue, tell your new friends what you are-"

"Hmm…" Nanaue looked thoughtful for a second. "Shark?"

"No, not that one-"

"Hungry?"

"I… are you hungry? You just ate before you came here."

"Me always hungry."

"Huh. That… explains a lot. No, the one about where you came from?"

"Oh!" Nanaue jerked a thumb to his chest, with pride. "Me descendant. From another world."

"You heard it from him first, folks!" Giran couldn't believe what Nanaue had told him, but he was going to see this wild ride through whether or not it made sense. "Nanaue… isn't from our world. This guy is a descendant of an ancient shark god from another world, a world where they don't have Quirks, but have super-powered people called metahumans. He literally just got portalled into my bar and needed some place to go, and well, you guys seem like a good fit since you're needing some people."

"..." Shigaraki stayed completely silent for just a second. "You're really gonna do this to me? The guy speaks Japanese and you're telling me he's from another world-"

"Other world has Japan too." Nananue looked guilty. "Speak Spanish and English too, me. So smart."

Toga appeared to giggle, and Kurogiri seemed to clutch at straws. "Master Tomura, if your desire is to be realised, we must increase our numbers. And if this Nanaue speaks several languages, then we already have a mind to expand outside of Japan once we achieve your ambitions for this society-"

"... Nope. Coming in here and saying he's from another world. That's it. I'm done. I'm out of here." Shigaraki's response to Kurogiri was to slide out of the grasp of Warp Gate, and head towards the door. For a moment both Toga and Dabi appeared to step back slightly in case the volatile young man tried to attack them again, but it appeared he had no appetite. "I've gotta go."

"Where go, friend?"

"None of your damn business, Jaws! Jeez…" Shigaraki barged past Nanaue, an awkward silence filling the room as the young man stumbled against Nanaue's bulk on his way out, and stomped out of the bar. "Party recruitment system is a fucking mess-"

Giran waited for some time until the sound of footsteps had gone, and took another puff of his cigarette, looking across to Kurogiri. "Kid's got a temper, huh?"

"I… do apologise." Kurogiri actually sagged in embarrassment behind his bar, cutting off his warp gates so Toga and Dabi could move again. "The attention we have received after Hosu… I believe he wishes it was more focused on him."

"I get that. Still…" Giran pulled a face. "I try to make a point not to complain about a client, but he's too young. And far too immature."

Really thought he was gonna kill us for a sec!" Toga seemed delightfully cheerful despite the altercation. "They say I'm crazy-"

"That guy makes me wanna vomit." Dabi turned his blue eyes onto Giran. "Although you made that worse. All those stories-"

"I must say, Dabi has a point." Kurogiri's attention was infinitely more terrifying. "When you could see he was in a mood, it was possibly not the best idea to launch into some intricate story for your recruiting options. This fantasy you have concocted about Nanaue…"

"Kurogiri… I believe this broker may actually be telling the truth."

Everyone in the room except Nanaue stiffened at the sound of the voice coming from the TV in the corner, so rich and full of power that it made people freeze. Giran had to try not to laugh as Nanaue didn't realise where the voice had come from, turning left and right in confusion that someone new was speaking. "Funny, you must have been listening the whole time, and yet Kurogiri called him Master Tomura. You… what does that make you? The one with the purse strings? His guardian?"

"In a sense, yes." The voice was rich, and amused in its tone, and giving nothing away. Giran could tell this was someone with a lot of experience in their world. "Normally I would say to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, but… this situation called for it in some degree."

Giran realised now that he was talking to someone who would have been present when he insulted Shigaraki earlier. Someone who clearly had a lot of investment in the young man, if he was willing to bankroll or teach him. Dangerous villains like that were not to be angered. "I am sorry if my comments were too harsh earlier on your kid-"

"Nonsense. I entirely sympathise that it makes your job more difficult. And besides, consider this an act of teenage rebellion from young Tomura. It is a good learning experience for him." The honeyed words did nothing to reassure Giran that the speaker truly forgave him. "I simply spoke up because of your third recruit. I will vouch for your tale, broker. This King Shark who you have brought with you… intrigues me."

"You…" Kurogiri's deference to the voice on the TV raised Giran's eyebrows. "You see something, Master?"

"I see many things. I am in possession of a Quirk that allows me to distinguish between individuals with Quirks, and Quirkless people. Nanaue here… really is Quirkless." The way that the 'Master' mentioned possessing a Quirk, rather than describing it as his, was unusual. "And yet he possesses power unlike anything I have seen, lending credence to the suggestion that his power may come from another source. That he may come from another world."

"You're kidding…" Toga's catlike yellow eyes widened. "He actually is? That's so cool!"

"I… would like to keep him around. As well as the other two, of course. You will be fine additions to the League of Villains. And you have done well to bring him to us, broker."

"No offence, mister," Dabi said, voice dripping with some dry sarcasm, "but I don't think Shigaraki wants us around. Unless you're overruling him on recruitment?"

"We're not overruling him, per se," Kurogiri replied. "I believe our leader knows what he has to do. That's why he left as he did. He understands his circumstances, and so… when he returns, I'm sure he will bring you an answer about belonging here. One to satisfy you and keep you here."

"Oh, so we just wait until the hand guy comes back and says yes, then it's official?" Toga actually did a little jump out of happiness. "Yay! I'm so glad I get to join your League!"

"You hear that, Nanaue?" Giran patted the shark on the shoulder. "You're in the League now. You and yer new friends-"

"Ha! Haha! New friends!" Nanaue's whole body shook and rippled as he laughed. "What do?"

"I'm sure Shigaraki will have a plan in due course. Although I must ask…" Kurogiri peered at Nanaue. "What is it you want, from joining the League?"

"Hmm…" Several heads turned to Nanaue, who made a noise as if he was processing one of life's great philosophical questions, before finally providing his answer. "... Nom nom."

"Nom…" Kurogiri's composure, Giran noted, was incredible. Unflappable. "You want… food?"

"Did I mention that Nanaue here eats people? Loves them." Giran slapped the shark on the back, and from the feel of the denticles on his palm, instantly regretted it. He hoped he hadn't drawn blood, because right now he didn't want to find out if Nanaue behaved like the sharks in the movies at the scent of blood. "Don't get in his bad books, okay?"

"No, Giran." Nanaue shook his head solemnly, pointing at the League. "I no eat friends."

"Aw, you actually do eat people? That's so cool…" Toga's eyes appeared to be glowing with something as she spoke to Nanaue. "Do you… like their blood?"

"Mmm. Blood delicious," Nanaue nodded emphatically. "Enjoy taste so much."

"Hahh!" Toga's face lit up in a blush, weirdly. "I bet it's super messy when you eat someone-"

"Most nom nom I eat whole," Nanaue replied, opening his wide jaws as if to demonstrate. Giran was completely reassured that Nanaue could swallow down a man whole, and did not need any further demonstration. "Only sometimes I eat part."

"That's too bad… I'd kinda be happy if you could make a little more mess, y'know? I love it when they bleed-"

"Oh, blood friend?" Something in Nanaue's face shifted. "Like Harley. You smile. You like blood?"

"I need it for my Quirk. Uh… my powers. It kinda acts as fuel." It took Giran a second to realise that Himiko Toga, crazed psychopath that she was with a back catalogue of murders the length of his arm, was being kind to Nanaue and trying to explain them in a way he understood. She… related to him. "Plus I like the taste of it, so… if you're gonna wanna eat a few people, then-"

"I... save you some?" Nanaue asked, hesitantly. "I… give you blood?"

"Y-You would? For me?!" Toga actually cheered. "Nanaue, you're amazing! I can't wait to be part of the League with you as my friend!"

Giran breathed a sigh of relief for how easy it had been to get Nanaue and Toga to bond. Given her insatiable bloodlust and his childlike desire to eat pretty much everything, he had sorely hoped that he was on to a winner with them. It was the other recruit he had questions about. "I'm glad you two get along so swimmingly!"

"Oh, we're gonna be good partners, I'm sure!" Toga bumped her side against the large shark, and Giran couldn't help but be impressed at the size of the girl's nuts to even think about trying that with Nanaue. "There's gonna be so much blood-"

"You two are so weird."

Giran rolled his eyes at the other recruit's angsty-sounding complaints, and turned to Nanaue. "Nanaue, this is Dabi. He plays slightly less nice than Toga, but you'll get along just fine-"

"Hmm..." Nanaue appeared to squint at the tall youth, looking down his body. "Arms?"

"They're burns, from my Quirk." Blue fire leaped up in Dabi's palm, obliging. "You don't look like you'd burn so well, shark. Too wet."

"Fire..." Nanaue looked thoughtful. "Endeavor?"

"... What the fuck did you just say?"

"No, no, he's not Endeavor, Nanaue!" Giran leaped in, as the fire suddenly roared and even the steadfast Nanaue took a step back. "Endeavor is a hero-"

"Like hell he is!" Dabi snarled, blue flames dancing in his eyes. "You watch your mouth, fish-"

"Why angry, friend?" Nanaue's dopey tone actually sounded sad and hurt at the reaction from Dabi. It was almost apologetic. "No understand-"

"Get a grip on yourself, would ya?" Giran didn't know what had motivated him to jump in the way of Dabi's flames before Nanaue, because he definitely was a lot less of an inconvenience to the angry boy with his burn scars. He wasn't about to have Nanaue burned down on his first day, though. "What the hell is up with you? I dunno why you're so angry at being compared to Endeavor-"

"He's the greatest fake of all of them!" Dabi seethed, through gritted teeth, but the fire was dying down. "He must suffer for what he has done-"

"Fine, whatever! But I literally only taught Nanaue about Endeavor last night! All he knows is some strong hero with a fire Quirk is called Endeavor, so…" Giran made a cut-throat gesture, and prayed to whatever god might not be too offended by his life choices so far that he wasn't about to become ashes. "Back off him, okay?"

Dabi, to Giran's great relief, actually listened, the flames dissipating into nothingness before he turned his back on Giran and stalked towards the corner. "Tch. Fine. For the record, I think this is stupid, and if he isn't smart enough to fall in line, he's worth nothing alive. But I'll wait and see what King Shark can do in the field before I write him off. Just don't get in my way."

"New friend… angry." Nanaue actually slumped a little. "So sorry, me-"

"Hey, hey, you don't gotta apologise!" To Giran's surprise, it was Toga who jumped in. "You didn't mean to hurt him, he's just mean and grouchy. He'll come around! You're gonna do great here, trust me!"

"Trust…" Nanaue's eyes softened, looking at her. Giran couldn't help but wonder if the bond Nanaue had with this Ratcatcher girl had fed into how easily he had accepted Toga. "Toga think me okay?"

"You're my blood buddy, aren't ya? You and me, we're gonna take this League by storm!" Toga held out a hand to Nanaue, the size difference between her hand and his incredible to see. His arm was basically the size of her whole skinny frame anyway. "Friends? Forever?"

"... Friends." Nanaue took her hand and shook it, a delicate gesture from a creature who could have ripped her arm out with no effort at all. "... Home."

"Well, ain't that sweet." Giran turned to Kurogiri, and grinned. Now Nanaue was bedded into the League of Villains, and had Toga as a friend, he felt happy for the big lug. Happier still that there was a chance he could sidle away back to his usual work, and not be menaced by the enormous shark (Giran liked the idea of not being eaten), but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little touched to see the King get a new friend. "They're getting on like a house on fire. I don't think you need me anymore…"

"Ahem." Kurogiri shot him a cool look. "I suppose this has worked rather well. Full payment will be in your account within an hour."

"You're generous as always, my friend." Giran tipped an imaginary hat to the TV in the corner, although it appeared to be off now. Better to be safe than sorry. "And my thanks for your patronage, as ever."

"Oh, are you leaving us? That's a shame." Kurogiri's eyes sharpened slightly. "Given that your three recruits are settling well, Master Tomura will return soon. And when he does, and when he welcomes these three into the League… I will have a proposition for him."

"A proposition?" Shit. Giran did not like the sound of this. "Like what?"

"Well, since your recruitment has been rather effective so far…" Kurogiri's voice was dark, like treacle. "Perhaps you may be able to help us find some more lost souls of the same caliber? We'll even pay you more for your kind assistance-"

"More new friends?" Nanaue had overheard that, to Giran's horror, and turned eagerly to him. "Giran stay? Find more new friends?"

This had not been the plan. The plan had been to ditch Nanaue to the associated gang of lunatics that was the League of Villains, and get out of there. The plan had been to allow the passage of time to wash over Nanaue, so that he no longer would track down Giran and come and eat him at any point. The plan had been for them to deal with the mess Nanaue would cause, not for him to be caught up in it. Kurogiri's offer wasn't really a request, and Giran hated it. He would be mixed up more and more with this crazy bunch, with King Shark, putting himself in danger because of their wild antics...

… It was a damn shame the money was so good.

Giran fixed Kurogiri with his most gleaming, salesman-bullshit smile, and hoped that his gold tooth had glinted for dramatic effect. "More new friends? For Nanaue? I'd say you're twisting my arm here, 'Giri, but how could I possibly say no?"

(***)

A/N: I am changing this so Giran is a main character on FF, the more I write. His dynamic of being an accidental sensei to Nanaue, and that slippery dialogue from someone nowhere near as insane as the rest of the League, watching on as the bullshit happens around him? He deserves it.

Nanaue and Toga? Dear god, help us all. At least Cleo Cazo was pure and all. Now, we get to see what happens when someone as unhinged as Harley becomes his best friend. All the positive reinforcement and "he's adorable" mindset as Ratcatcher, mixed with all the crazy chaos of Harley Quinn? Toga is one of my favourite characters so this is a treat.

You can find more of her if you check out Incident Zero, my flagship fic (hint hint, please do), and if you're coming from there and reviewed recently, I'll get to you soon, promise. In the meantime, please feel free to check out my other works, and please review/favourite/follow this. Thank you for all your support so far.

Ya boy, out.