Chapter 3!
The amount of dialogue I need to write for this is something else I tell you. It's a lot but I feel it's pretty important and informational.
User/Reviewer yomunot: I'm hoping it'll keep being interesting cause it's a lot of dialogue and information haha. Thanks as always for your reviews.
User/Reviewer spud329: I'll have a lot of information as I continue to flesh out the yakuza in the BNHAverse so please look forward to that!
To everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed thank you so much!
Enjoy, more notes at the end!
Chapter 3: Ensnared
*Yu POV*
Yu's eyes lingered on the picture, she was still stunned honestly, but Midoriya eventually turned it back around and smiled at it before placing the photo away.
Noticing her silent gaze, Midoriya grinned at her teasingly. "Did you think that villains and criminals didn't have such relationships?" she poked playfully but Yu felt it was more like a criticism.
No, no she hadn't, and the way that the woman had asked made Yu feel embarrassed and ashamed of herself. It simply never occurred to Yu that the yakuza woman had a family, one that clearly loved her, but she pushed the thought away with the shake of her head.
"I've just never thought about it before," she tried responding, though her words came out in a mumble, and Midoriya waved a hand dismissively.
"Well, that doesn't surprise me," the yakuza woman shrugged, unbothered by Yu's discomfort, but her face lit up all of a sudden. "Anyway, my daughter's name is Eri, she's extremely cute and likes apples," the greenette praised with an adoring smile that took the heroine off guard. "She said she wanted to be cool like me when she grows up but even if she's not like me then she'd be cool and cute regardless," Midoriya explained, beginning to harp on and on endlessly, and the blonde just sat there with a strained grin.
The greenette didn't show any signs of stopping so Yu began to tune out the woman's ramblings about her daughter as she sorted her own thoughts. It was a bit...off putting, having just dealt with the yakuza woman's difficult personality shifting only to find out she was the kind of person who turned into a fool for their child. Sitting through a few more minutes with a forced smile, the heroine cut in the second she found a chance.
"Why would you want me to take care of your daughter anyway?" she inquired seriously but the question made Midoriya cross her arms and lean back.
"Don't know why but you've been her favorite hero since you debuted," the older woman said with a click of her tongue and an almost annoyed frown. "Maybe it's because your costume has horns," she grumbled offhandedly and not bothering to hide the hint of jealousy in her tone. "Either way, she absolutely loves you which is why I especially didn't want to kill you," Midoriya sighed and the knowledge made Yu feel both a little more secure and of course flattered by her newly known fan.
"I guess she takes more after your late husband?" the blonde added on, thinking about how the little girl hadn't resembled Midoriya at all, but the yakuza woman shook her head.
"Oh, she's adopted actually," the older woman disclosed nonchalantly to her surprise but the information struck a chord inside of Yu.
"But you still took her in despite being a yakuza?" she questioned with her voice raising a touch. "That will make things hard on her!" the blonde admonished yet Midoriya didn't react much to her outburst.
"Her actual grandpa is a yakuza too so what does it matter," the greenette dismissed, only shocking the hero further, and Yu attempted to calm herself and hear the details behind this.
"Then how did she end up with you?" the blonde prodded while the greenette drummed a finger as she seemed to be recalling things.
"Her dad was involved in an incident and her mother abandoned her so she was with her grandfather," the older woman cited, her eyes narrowing a moment before easing, and Yu paid close attention. "His group hasn't been doing well for a long time now and we have a pretty long history so he turned to me," she went on further with a sigh as she leaned her head back into her chair and stared towards the ceiling. "Eri would have been in danger with him but here she's a lot safer and happier," the greenette finished with an unconscious nod to herself but it didn't completely sit right with the heroine.
"This was all out of the kindness of your heart?" Yu pried, unable to hide her suspicion, but Midoriya again brushed her off with a wave.
"Truthfully, I owed that old man a favor," the older woman confessed with a shake of her head and Yu was about to protest but when the woman raised her face her expression morphed into an icy smile. "That's how it started but that little girl is without a doubt my daughter," Midoriya stated, clearly not willing to entertain any argument, and Yu nodded immediately.
"S-sorry," the blonde apologized unconsciously and the hard look on Midoriya's face vanished as she stood up, grabbing her jacket and loosely draping it over her shoulders, before motioning at the heroine with a finger.
"Follow," she ordered calmly and Yu found herself trailing behind the yakuza.
The blonde heroine followed the older woman as they exited the room and navigated the office and the younger woman took the time to observe what was happening around her. It may have been later in the evening but there were still people working like normal, not sparing them much attention, and she wouldn't have been able to tell that it was yakuza owned had she not known already. Something that Yu also noted was that a large majority of the yakuza she saw were younger than Midoriya. Sure there were a few outliers or those that were closer to the greenette's age but for the most part they seemed to have a decent age gap from their boss. The woman had mentioned that they often just picked recruits up but so many of them were around Yu's age that it naturally made her wonder.
"There's so many young people," the blonde commented aloud and Midoriya peered over her shoulder as they were about to exit the building.
"It's not like we don't come across the older recruit here or there but it's just more common to find them younger," the yakuza woman explained, reaching a hand out and being given a pair of keys by someone, and she pointed Yu towards a car.
"Why is that?" the blonde asked curiously, getting into the passenger's seat while Midoriya got behind the wheel, and the greenette started up the car.
"Young people get into debt and get mixed up with the wrong kinds of people pretty often actually," she shrugged, taking a moment to run a hand through her hair, as Yu settled in as well. "Could be tuition troubles, family issues, gambling, or any other reason," the green haired woman rattled off as they got moving. "Then they need money badly and are easy targets for those who'll give them a job that'll put them on a rough path or loan them money only to build up a debt," she disclosed with Yu paying rapt attention to her knowledge, "on the other hand, most older criminals end up falling into the more unhinged groups by choice." The heroine listened carefully and did her best to absorb each bit of information and the greenette went on. "Younger ones tend to not go beyond certain points for a while and at least around my turf they usually fall in with my group," Midoriya told her with a strange look in her green eyes and Yu chimed in.
"But don't they stick around?" she commented, the lack of older members still not making a lot of sense to her, but Midoriya gave a sharp bark of laughter and an amused sigh.
"I don't keep them forever," the older woman answered simply. "Plenty of them move on after a while and find a place at one of our affiliated businesses, yakuza owned or not," she laid out as they continued driving. "Some leave for an honest life altogether but as long as they're out of debt and get my say so then they're free to do that," Midoriya hummed, seeming sincere, but Yu of course had to voice her doubts.
"Is that really all it takes?" the blonde had to prod yet it didn't appear to perturb the other woman.
"I told you," Midoriya began, "when they're under me then they're my family," she reiterated with a quick glance over to Yu. "One day they're gonna leave the nest and it's my job to make sure they're ready for when they do," she proclaimed almost proudly.
"If you say so..." Yu dismissed, still unsure what she thought of that or if she'd take the woman's words on it, and they came to a brief stop at a light.
"I told you why I wanted you to take care of my daughter but the other reason is that my workload is about to get a lot heavier," Midoriya said seriously, taking on a bit of a grumble, and Yu perked up at the info. "Sometimes I'm forced to iron out deals myself and a couple of them will take me out of Sapporo for possibly days at a time," the greenette told her with tiny groan of exasperation as they got moving again. "Much as I dislike being away from my daughter I do also have responsibilities as the head of my group," she relented and the blonde looked towards her questioningly.
"Surely this isn't the first time though?" the heroine responded while watching the greenette's displeased face, "who did you have watch her before?"
"Mainly my aide," the yakuza woman replied, "plus anyone else there when he's busy," she quickly added before humming in thought. "There's also a few female workers too who are family to some of our yakuza and they're civilians," the greenette pointed out as well and Yu grew a touch annoyed.
"Then why did you need me to do it?" she griped back which earned her a click of the tongue from the green haired woman.
"Didn't I just tell you you're my daughter's favorite hero?" Midoriya scoffed in response, "if it makes her happy then of course I'd do it."
"What if I took advantage of that?" Yu halfheartedly threw out but it only put a whimsical smile on the older woman's face.
"Careful," she chuckled softly. "You're not sounding like a hero," she poked and Yu frowned a little at the half barb.
"So other than it making your daughter happy it's because you know I can't do anything," she stated more than asked and Midoriya's amused snort was all the answer she needed.
"You're catching on quicker," the yakuza woman teased which made the blonde fold her arms in annoyance.
"That doesn't make me feel better," Yu grumbled to herself which only further tickled the other woman.
"By the way," the greenette shifted. "I mentioned keeping your hero status hidden so when you're out in public with me or coming over to my place then we'll change the color of your hair and eyes," she informed while Yu peered back over to her.
"Won't that be a hassle?" she groaned, not super keen on the idea but getting it, while the greenette shook her head.
"Nah," Midoriya replied, "you remember the dummy you tried to catch?" she asked abruptly.
"Yeah," Yu nodded, sort of remembering the somewhat plain faced man by his nervous look and thick eyebrows.
"His name's Nishida and his quirk allows him to temporarily change the color of things he touches," the yakuza woman told her, "but I doubt you want to be jabbed in the eyes so I'll look into color contacts."
"Still seems out of the way to continually send him to do that," Yu complained which again got a wave off from the greenette.
"He's actually one of your neighbors," she revealed and Yu straightened in her seat.
"What?"
"We own that little apartment building you moved into," the greenette admitted while Yu chastised herself for just going for a shady place to save money. "Most of the people living there are ours or people working with us," the greenette notified and the blonde could only hang her head in self disappointment. "Nishida can change our peoples' hair colors before we send them out on delivery runs so since he was there we used it as a little base for that kinda stuff. It might not be much but it helps keep things on the low," the older woman whistled.
"Anything else I should know?" Yu sighed, a bit exhausted from the day she was having, and the greenette hummed thoughtfully.
"I'll introduce you to my aide when we get back to my place then," Midoriya answered while tapping a finger on the wheel. "He's an older guy, really should just retire, but he's my second so treat him with respect," she noted and Yu just shook her head in agreement.
Midoriya chattered a bit more with her but they eventually arrived at a somewhat traditional styled house and got out. It was a relatively nice place, better than her apartment for sure, and Yu entered the small courtyard as she trailed behind the greenette. It didn't exactly scream home of a yakuza boss nor was it particularly extravagant, it was just sort of normal if anything, but Yu cautiously scanned her new surroundings. The pair entered the home and Midoriya was immediately greeted by a few passing workers as well as a grim looking older man.
"Alright," the greenette stopped and turned towards her while aiming a hand at the man, "this is Kashiwagi, my aide," she quickly introduced. "I'll fill you in on the full details later," Midoriya said to the man who gave a slight bow and Yu greeted him back stiffly. "Is Eri already asleep?" the boss addressed Kashiwagi who nodded.
"Nearly," he answered calmly. "She's tucked in but doing her best to stay up for you," the man informed which got a silly smile from the greenette before she schooled her expression.
"Lead newbie over here to the kitchen," she ordered before turning back to Yu. "I'll be there in a bit," she addressed the blonde heroine and walked off hastily, not waiting for a response, as Kashiwagi directed the younger woman elsewhere.
Yu didn't bother asking the older man any questions, he didn't look the type willing to answer anyway, and she didn't want to accidentally make him mad by pestering him for information about Midoriya. He seemed the very serious type and he was curt in his actions but showed no negative disposition towards her as he told her to wait for the green haired woman. The blonde sat at the table and took in her surroundings as she somewhat timidly waited. The kitchen wasn't any different from a normal household but that didn't exactly ease her mind considering she knew this was a yakuza boss's home. Yu sat quietly but eventually she started growing impatient as time dragged on. When she was almost at her limit, Midoriya entered the kitchen, having changed to more appropriate house clothes, and the heroine couldn't help but make a backhanded comment.
"I guess you weren't pressed for time," she muttered, clearly loud enough for the woman to hear, but Midoriya smirked at her.
"If I have time for anything then it would be things related to my daughter," she replied, making the blonde feel bad for saying anything, "you can meet her tomorrow."
"Fine," Yu agreed, knowing that was her only option. "So what now?"
"Now..." Midoriya hummed before grabbing an apron, "what do you want to eat?" she asked and Yu eyed her in surprise.
"You're cooking?" she questioned, a tad incredulously, and the greenette just stared back at her.
"Of course I'm cooking," the yakuza woman stated like it was nothing and the heroine shrugged.
"I guess I just figured you might not know how," she'd assumed which earned her a half glare.
"Why wouldn't I know how to cook?" Midoriya scoffed as she redid her hair. "Before I was the Boss I was just the Boss's wife and now I'm a single mother," she huffed while rummaging through some cupboards.
It was still strange for Yu to think about how the yakuza woman actually had a completely normal life outside of her shady and criminal activities. The heroine watched the woman shuffle about silently and the greenette even served her drinks before she got started on preparing food. It had been a hell of a day for the blonde and it still wasn't over but she took this moment to try and rest her mind a bit. There was a bout of comfortable silence and the enticing aroma of food reached her nose before Midoriya spoke up again.
"Anyway, stay the night tonight," the yakuza woman called over, holding a hand up to stop Yu's protest, before going on, "that way you can meet Eri tomorrow and we can work out a sort of schedule," she reasoned. "Though I'll mostly just be calling you when I need you," the greenette smirked, the action irking the heroine, and Yu frowned at her.
"I said it couldn't interfere with my hero work," she reminded pointedly, her volume going up a tad, and Midoriya put a finger to her own lips.
"Lower your voice would you?" the greenette hushed in mild annoyance. "I want you to give me the days that you patrol and I'll work around them," she clarified. "Days you have off from your hero work will be when I'll assume you're available," the greenette told her before aiming a narrowed gaze at the blonde. "Also don't try to overload your schedule with hero work to get out of things. I'm being flexible but remember that I don't have to be," she reminded and Yu reluctantly nodded in affirmation.
Deciding to switch topics, Yu perked up, "What kind of business is going to keep you away from Sapporo?"
"I need to meet up with some contacts at a big support company," the greenette called from over her shoulder, having turned back to the cooking. "A reputable broker in Tokyo reached out to me for a business opportunity," she listed secondly. "I'm supposed to meet with the head of another yakuza family but I think I'll just make him come here instead," the older woman seemingly groused. "Also need to inquire about what's going on across Japan."
"Isn't it fine to just know what's going on around Sapporo and Hokkaido in general?" Yu wondered since Midoriya's group was small and based in Sapporo but the green haired yakuza shook her head.
"Even things happening at the opposite end of the country can affect business," she lectured, "so it's always good to be in the loop of what's happening regardless." Midoriya turned back and began chopping things while peering at the heroine, "Sure we don't need all the small news but keeping an ear out is what's important," she taught. "I'm sure you keep up with big hero news even if it's not related to you."
"That makes sense," Yu nodded after hearing the explanation. "Though I thought you said yakuza groups don't get along," she pointed out and the greenette laughed a touch.
"We don't," she confirmed. "I'm only on good terms with the group's head while he's mainly neutral if not a little disgruntled with my group," Midoriya laid out with a reminiscing smile, "our groups have had issues with each other before but luckily he's in Tokyo while I'm in Sapporo." The yakuza woman's softened smile suddenly morphed into one of inconvenience, "Ugh, just thinking about his officers gives me a headache so I'm definitely making him come here," she groaned which got Yu's attention.
"You have trouble dealing with them?" she noted, surprised that such a woman could have people that even she couldn't handle, and Midoriya gave an exasperated grunt.
"I can deal with them," she mumbled, "I just don't like to." Her look told Yu that there was more to it than that but the greenette sighed, "You'll meet the head eventually but I hope you don't meet anyone in his group," Midoriya noted, "If you do then stick close to me so I can protect you alright?"
Yu would have thought that the woman was teasing her but the darkened look on her face told her that that likely wasn't the case. The heroine had to remind herself that she had an unconventional relationship with this woman or else the words might have made her feel a bit happy. Midoriya resumed her cooking but she again called over back to the blonde.
"So," the greenette shot over, "what do you like?"
"What?" Yu asked as if she'd heard incorrectly and the older woman waved over her shoulder.
"You can't properly learn about others just by reading papers," she hummed, her tone turning pleasant, "what foods do you like, what are your hobbies or things you find fun?" she rapidly fired off and Yu let out a bit of a disbelieving chuckle.
"You sound like a gossipy housewife," the blonde poked, leaning her cheek into her hand as she looked over, and Midoriya turned back to her with an amused gaze.
"I was a gossipy housewife," she playfully deadpanned, "I can start if you want."
"Alright, what were you like when you were younger?" Yu wondered, going along with the woman, and Midoriya seemed to find the question funny.
"I was a delinquent when I was in high school," she laughed to no surprise of Yu's. "Had the long skirt, bat, and face mask too," the greeentte grinned with a point to her face. "I got into trouble all the time. Picking fights with students from other schools or skipping out on classes to go play around town," she recalled, a faraway look coming over her eyes, and Yu smiled a little as she imagined it.
"Sounds more fun than what I got up to," the blonde replied as she recalled her own time in high school. "You already know I went to an agricultural high school," the heroine reminded with a pout. "The most interesting thing I did was get to use my quirk to move animals from one enclosure to the next," she groaned, still recalling how bored out of her mind she had been with that, and Midoriya made a curious sound.
"You didn't go out or anything?" the greenette asked back.
"I'm from Shimizu," Yu refreshed, "we have scenery and farming. Even Obihiro was a bit..." she trailed off and Midoriya hummed.
"Not busy enough for you huh?"
"No way," Yu complained instantly, "and I couldn't just run off to Sapporo whenever," she pointed out. "I was busy helping my parents and they've always been worried about me going to any big city," the younger woman recalled.
"Aren't their worries valid?" the green haired woman chuckled, annoying the blonde, and Yu shook her head.
"As if. I'm a grown woman," the blonde retorted but a sudden thought hit her and she blushed. "Er, I see your point," the hero relented as she remembered that she was in a yakuza's home.
"Relax, I was teasing," Midoriya brushed off lightly. "Pick a day and I'll take you around Sapporo," the greenette offered, "it'll be on me."
"Are you sure?" Yu eagerly asked.
"You already know I'm willing to spend money on you," the older woman stated but the words made Yu sink back with a hint of exasperation.
"It sounds wrong when you say it like that," she complained again though it only amused the greenette.
"Doesn't make it less true," Midoriya stated back and Yu gave her a devilish grin.
"I might make you buy me something crazy expensive," she playfully prodded but the yakuza matched her devious smirk.
"So expensive that we can count it as a bribe?" the greenette teased back with a pleasant note and Yu grumbled at her.
"It was a joke!" the blonde huffed, starting to get fed up with this woman.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Midoriya soothed but Yu was certain that she was still mocking her. "I'd still buy it for you though," the green haired woman assured but Yu didn't trust that for a second.
"Yeah right," she denied.
"Don't be surprised when I do then," Midoriya hummed, "now come and help me set the table."
Yu glared at her a little but got up to help and after it was all set she'd finally realized how hungry she had been. Not only that but it was a home cooked meal that made her less worried and only then did she think of how crazy things had been since she'd left home. Getting to sit down and have a meal with someone and just chat made Yu feel a lot better and Midoriya even let her have some peach ale that almost made the heroine tear up. Yu's favorite food was peaches and when she'd turned 20 her parents had bought a peach ale that they'd shared together for her birthday. Midoriya listened to her complain and they'd swapped stories of all kinds and the woman even bid her goodnight as she'd set her up in the guest room. However, it was only later that night when Yu was about to fall asleep did she realize she'd eaten dinner with a yakuza and not some friend.
She needed to keep her guard up but something told her it might have been too late.
-break-
*Izumi POV*
Izumi liked the younger woman but she was far too easy to distract.
Chat away at her, give her some information, be a little nice to her, and the blonde would lower her guard. Sure she'd bring it back up eventually but each successful attempt made the following one easier. Izumi had trapped her since the start but now that they'd interacted with one another the greenette had her claws brushing against the younger woman's feelings. The blonde couldn't only see her as a criminal anymore and that had put the heroine in a precarious spot. Izumi ran her finger around the rim of her glass with a frown.
It was a quiet night and she was alone with her thoughts.
Notes and Stuff
It was Eri and I have a very good reason for why it is later down the line.
Kashiwagi and Nishida aren't gonna play much of a role going forward, I just thought it was better to have some names to call on, and they're of course names I pulled from the Yakuza series games. Speaking of yakuza, I will continue having Izumi, and later another character, being the info dumps for related things.I'll also soon be able to get to Izumi being away from Yu and interacting with other characters while she's working as opposed to leisurely talking to and teaching Yu. That'll be a lot of fun and I have a number of different people she'll be meeting.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!