The Viper Gang was nothing like the Shie Hassaikai. It was almost laughable how easy it was to infiltrate the group - he didn't even get a decent fight out of it.
They were woefully unorganized, but they were dangerous in a different way than most of the people Izuku had dealt with undercover. While the majority of the Viper Gang were largely unskilled and untrained, there was a stunning number of them. Like the mythological hydra, if you took one of them down, there were two more gang members there to take their place, armed and desperate.
These were people who had largely given up. They felt they served no purpose in life, so they were sent out with illegal firearms. It was a community of the weak, the desperate, and the hopeless.
It was almost sad how poorly hidden their base of operations was. Izuku had been given the information, but even if he hadn't, the creepy abandoned warehouse with the Viper Gang symbol spray painted across the bricks would have been one of the first places he decided to check.
Slipping inside didn't prove difficult at all. In fact, a timid teenager took one look at his katana and held the door open for Deku.
Inside gang members milled around everywhere. All ages and types laughed, fought, and shouted together. It was complete chaos, but it could be navigated.
Walking through, the hierarchy of the gang was obvious. The attitudes between the higher and lower ranking members was night and day. Or in this case, it was the difference between the scared boy who opened the door for Izuku and the man who stepped into his path casually slapping a baseball bat against his hand.
"And just what do you think you're doing here?" he asked in a gravelly voice.
Deku barely glanced up to meet the man's gaze, quirking an eyebrow. "And who are you that think you deserve an answer?"
"Mouthy. That's not a very smart thing to be here," he growled, advancing. "Let me show you how things work around here, little boy."
He pulled his arm back, telegraphing his movements in the worst way. His bat met Deku's sword, and the sword won."
"You don't want to continue this," Deku promised, while the man stared at where half of his bat laid on the ground. "Where's your leader? I have things to discuss with her."
Unexpectedly, the man bristled. "You may be stronger than me, but-"
"Calm yourself, Hanada," a sharp voice called. The crowd parted for a tall, regal woman covered in scales. "If pressed, he could likely kill every person in this room. At the very least, Deku could dismantle this entire organization in an afternoon."
The warehouse fell silent as the name "Deku" reverberated through the place, people staring at him in a mixture of awe and horror. Deciding to capitalize on the momentum, he sheathed his sword and said, "Fukuoka Yuki, or should I call you Viper? You are the namesake of the gang, after all. At least you seem well-informed."
"Forgive my subordinates, sir," she said. Her posture was perfect,but Izuku could see the panic in her eyes. "They're young, and they don't know enough about how the world works."
"It's already forgotten, given that it isn't repeated," Deku said, voice cold. "They'll have to learn the nature of things quickly if I'm going to offer my services."
"Offer your services?" Viper asked, pulling back slightly.
"Viper Gang has potential," he said nonchalantly. "I've heard about your current conflict with Dead Eyes. It would be counterproductive for me if they come out on top, so I'm offering my expertise."
"And we gladly accept, Deku sir," she said. "And we will help you with whatever you may need, just say the word."
"You'll serve your purpose in time," he said dismissively. "For now I need to hear any and all plans you have to attack Dead Eyes."
She nodded. "If you'll follow me to my office, I'll have the group leaders come in and report."
Barely inclining his head, Deku followed, completely ignoring the way the crowd parted for him. Wordlessly, each of the leaders fell in line behind him. While Deku was silently impressed by their obedience, he was completely unaware that Viper was impressed by the same thing. She was far from having an iron grip on her gang, but even those that had never heard the name "Deku" before could feel that this was no man to trifle with.
Once he made it to the office, he scrutinized each leader as they filed in - they were little more than teenagers trying to look more intimidating than they were, but they each had that same unhinged, hopeless look in their eyes that made them dangerous. They were volatile and unpredictable, but Izuku got the sense that if these seven fell then the Viper Gang would no longer be a threat. While there was no way they could possibly eliminate every last member, if they took out these core members, it would all topple like a house of cards. Several of them were people Izuku had noticed from the very beginning, but there were at least two wild cards thrown in, people that had to have a major asset hidden if they were able to be leaders in such a sizable gang.
"As I said before, I need each of you to tell me what you and your crews are planning on doing to Dead Eyes," Deku said, crossing his arms as he sat down in what was obviously supposed to be Viper's chair. Internally he was slowly dying at the audacity of, well, himself, but he needed to posture, no matter how painful it was at the moment.
He stared down the first leader that had walked in, noting the excessive sweat that was slowly seeping through his shirt the longer he stood under Deku's gaze. Causally wiping his forehead, he squeaked, "I'm Chuya, sir, and my crew and I are planning on poaching some of the suppliers that Dead Eyes are currently relying on."
Raising one eyebrow, Deku asked, "What kind of suppliers are those?"
"Um, Dead Eyes try to operate fairly under the radar, so they run several discrete businesses, like a bakery. We also have a bakery, and we were planning on poaching their patissier."
He didn't know what he expected of the mumbled reply, but it took all of his self control not to snicker at the thought of two gangs fighting over something so petty and ridiculous. Most of the other leaders had equally innocuous plans, and those that were problematic quickly agreed not to carry out their plan until Izuku gave his okay. It was all fine up until the last leader.
The last leader - the very man who had challenged Izuku upon entrance - stood tall, tilting his head haughtily. "My crew and I are going to raid their base in five days."
"No, you're not," Deku said sharply. "If we want to be able to win this struggle, we need to lay low for a while, keep them guessing about what we're doing. You don't directly engage them, and more importantly you don't enrage them."
Breathing in sharply, the man took a step towards Deku. "I know Viper has said you're some kinda genius, but I ain't seen no proof of that. Me and my boys have been planning this for weeks, and no boy with a sword is going to change that."
Instead of shrinking away from the man and his foul breath, Deku took a step forward, getting right in his face. "If you and your boys don't want to die the second a real fight starts, then I suggest you listen."
He stared the man down, refusing to blink. While some of Viper Gang had heard of him, Deku needed to assert his dominance or he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything when a fight did come to head.
Sensing more than seeing the fist that was swiftly flying towards his face, Izuku caught it easily in one palm, eyes never leaving the other man's face.
Viper gasped. "Hanada, step down-"
Deku held up a hand. "No, he doubts me. Clearly I need to earn some respect around here."
Hanada snorted. "I'd like to see you try."
Releasing the man's fist, Deku and Hanada circled each other a few times, each assessing the other. Hanada was a tall, broad man, obviously a brawler, and it seemed that his quirk was connected to the thickness of his skin, which acted as a sort of armor. It was latent, and his skin seemed to be roughly the same thickness of an elephant, or a rhino. While it definitely gave Hanada an advantage, it meant that he tended not to block and gave him an undeserved confidence in his fighting, something that worked to Deku's advantage.
It was obvious that the man had never been formally trained. He was a beast and experience was on his side, but he was completely ignorant of his weak points. The first: his patience.
Hanada lunged first with a vicious right hook that would have been the end for Deku if he hadn't dodged just in time. A rush of air followed the fist, whipping past his face.
While the punch was absurdly strong, it was slow and excessive - the punch was telegraphed to absolutely everyone, and the movement was long and sweeping, making it simple for Deku to catch his forearm, twisting it behind his back.
Snarling, Hanada thrashed around until Deku let his arm go, sending the man careening to the ground. He was back on his feet in a heartbeat, lunging at Deku with the aim of tackling him, but he simply danced out of the way, like a matador leading a bull around.
It was a merry chase he let Hanada on, allowing him just close enough to make Deku's escape all the more frustrating. After a particularly close call, Deku decided it had been enough.
Ducking below Hanada's crushing arms, Deku followed the movement even further, sinking down to sweep his leg out, forcibly knocking both of Hanada's out from under him. While he toppled with all the grace of a felled tree, Deku bobbed up, drawing his sword as he whirled around, settling one foot on his chest and the sword point at his neck.
"If you and your men want to survive the larger battle, you will call off the raid," Deku said in a frosty voice. "I'm not a boy, I'm not a puppy, and I'm not whatever else you may want to refer to me as. I've seen and done things far beyond the scope of your little gang here, so when I say jump, you ask how high."
Putting just enough pressure on Hanada's chest to make him significantly uncomfortable, Deku stared the man down long enough to feel confident his message was delivered.
Stepping away, he said, "No one is taking any blatant action against Dead Eyes unless it was approved by me first. Make sure everyone knows."
With that, Deku stepped away. He left the office, once more marching through the crowd as it parted for him. He heard the telltale signs of someone (badly) attempting to follow him, but a single glare solved that problem. Striding out confidently, he only had to walk a few blocks before he ducked into an alleyway, shedding his disguise until he was just left in his jeans, t-shirt, and fanny pack while he stuffed the rest into a duffel bag he'd stuffed behind a dumpster the night before.
With his katana safely stuffed in the bag, Izuku felt confident walking down the street until he reached the bus stop. From there it was just a matter of getting to the police station.
Kit's Korner
Izuku's last birthday
"You guys really didn't have to do any of this," Izuku said, staring at the station's break room. It was bursting, decorations covering everything they feasibly could, and a few decorations that logically shouldn't have possibly been there. None of them were made as birthday decorations, because that apparently would have been "off-brand." It wasn't like they could have used the actual birthday decorations they had bought last month to celebrate that Tokusei had been transferred to a different station.
But no, someone "just happened to find" some Thanksgiving decorations. Izuku didn't know much about Thanksgiving as it was primarily an American holiday, but at this point he was convinced that one of the officers spent too much time on the internet for their own good. It really didn't help the fact that Eri got some holidays mixed up anyways.
"Nonsense, you're the only one that we would willingly do this for," Saito said, licking frosting off of her thumb.
Kimura gestured widely with her fork. "You know, now I'm glad that you guys refused to help plan my baby shower. You're kind of terrible."
Sasaki gasped, clutching a turkey plush that someone had gifted a party hat to her chest. "This is a masterpiece, you cretin!"
"Well you've got fifteen minutes before you have to clean up your masterpiece," Tsukauchi said before a fight could break out. "Has everyone given their gift to Izuku?"
"Oh, I nearly forgot to give mine," Sohma said, shuffling forward. "Here you are, Midoriya."
Izuku accepted the gift bag, opening it to find a pristine leather wallet inside.
"At the rate you're going you may need a larger wallet soon, but for now this seemed to be just the right size. I took the liberty of filling it for you."
"You filled it?" Izuku asked, confused.
"Let me show you," Sohma said, taking the wallet and unbuttoning it. Once open, a line of photos fell out. "I have one with all of my grandchildren, and it just felt right for you, Midoriya."
"Thank you, Sohma," Izuku said, reaching for the wallet. The first picture was Eri, of course, beaming next to Kirimi, who sat next to Kouta. "This is great, I love having them with me!"
"Oh, one got stuck behind the others," Nakamura noticed, poking at the photo that was still folded behind.
It fell open, and in contrast to the smiling children of the other pictures, Izuku found himself face to face with Shouto's deadpan expression.
"Aw, Little Midoriya's kids," Saito cooed, a wicked gleam in her eyes.
"You're such a dad already," Sasaki snorted.
"He definitely has more parental instinct than I do," Kimura added.
"Just remember, if you decide to keep a picture of Uraraka as well you should keep it hidden," Saito said with a huge wink.
"A picture of- You're insane, you're all insane!" Izuku proclaimed, hoping his cheeks would stop flushing. "Thank you for the gift, Sohma. In the meantime, I think I hear Tsukauchi saying that he needs me out there."
"Tsukauchi is still in here," Saito called behind him.
"Not for much longer," the detective in question said, following Izuku. "Now clean up all of your turkeys."
A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter took so long! I can tell you're all hyped to see what happens next, and I really love you all for that! Things are going to pick up really quickly - I promise I'm going to deliver fairly soon.
Warning: I'm going to be addressing some of the current social issues going on in the U.S. If this is something that you don't want to hear to preserve your mental health, then awesome, see you next chapter! I also don't want this to turn into an argument, and to preserve my own mental health, I reserve the right to delete inflammatory comments.
I think the title of the fic says it all. Detective Midoriya is about what would have happened had Izuku decided to become a cop in the BNHA world. However, this is a detective story about a fictional character in a different country of a fictional universe.
This is by no means my support of the current actions and state of the police force in the United States of America, nor is it a condemnation of every individual police officer.I believe that every human being has the capacity for good and evil, and we have to choose our actions each day, and we must be held accountable for those actions. The systemic injustice is something that needs to be addressed and changed, and we're in the middle of that right now. I'm not going to tell you what you should do in your own lives to address this issue - morally, I believe that you need to decide that for yourself. I'm sure that many of you have already started taking action in some way or another. What I am going to suggest is that you take the time to truly educate yourself on the matter. Listen and read with an open mind, and decide for yourself what action you think would be the most appropriate. True change is internal, and it starts with the individual.