Gran Torino and The Wolverine: p.6
Spider-Man, Captain Britain, and all associated characters, are property of Marvel. My Hero Academia and all related characters are property of Kohei Horikoshi
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Gran sighed as he watched paramedics load the criminal he captured into an ambulance. "Do I really have to be here?"
The lead police officer sent him a stink-eye. "We all could have left here sooner if you told us you needed an ambulance."
Gran scoffed. "I told the operator 'I've got two thugs here, send someone to pick them up.'"
"…You didn't tell us you'd thrown one through a window and broken the other's jaw."
"That sounds like a you problem." The officer's stink-eye evolved into a glare. "Alright, fine. Next time I'll specify that you guys don't need to do any work. Like whenever I'm out here!" Gran winced as the officer reared back "Sorry, sorry." He pinched the bridge of his nose. Even weeks after finding out Sunfire was under the table deals with All for One, Gran was still a little testy with authority figures. But the rank-and-file cops didn't deserve his paranoia. "I'm sorry. That's not fair to any of you. We're all doing our part to keep the peace." He stared the officer in the eyes. "I'll be better next time, promise."
The officer's face softened. "…Get some rest," he said. "You look like you need it."
Gran nodded, stepping back with a short bow. He took a deep breath and shot into the air. He made a lazy loop in the sky before flying towards one of his safe houses. He really did need a break. The Yakuza had been lying low lately—thanks to Gran's help, Logan had become a lot more methodical and precise in his revenge. Let him do a lot more damage in comparatively less time.
As such, there were less and less people for Gran to target. But he never liked sitting still, so he figured he might as well round up local punks in his spare time. Probably done it a bit too much, though, if he was going off an a cop.
Still, the Yakuza were going down, bit by bit. At the rate things were going, there might not be anything left for Toshinori when he finally came back home…Well, he wished. If Gran were able, he'd wipe out All for One by himself and leave just the run-of-the-mill crazies for Toshinori to breeze his way through for the rest of his life.
But that wasn't possible. On top of just not being strong enough, All for One could just steal Gran's powers and kill him at his leisure with his myriad of stolen Quirks. Toshinori, to both their fortune and misfortune, didn't have that problem due to the nature of his inherited Quirk, One for All. And, with time, Toshinori would grow strong enough to eclipse whatever unnatural advantages All for One gave himself.
That day was coming up far sooner than Gran could have dreamed. He could only hope that Toshinori's time in New York would adequately prepare him for his inevitable confrontation with All for One…Now that Gran thought about it, Logan was from New York. Maybe he could ask him about the city—and get an opinion that wasn't filtered through the mouth of an overexcited brat—next time met. Whenever that was.
Gran spied the neighborhood his safehouse was located in. A simple enough area—a little rundown, the buildings new but not well-maintained, residents edging just on the right side of the poverty line. Perfect place for a guy to lay low for a day or two.
He angled down, flipping in the air and landing in an alleyway beside his safehouse. He already got his weekly phone call from Toshinori, so as soon as he set-up his rudimentary defense measures and crawled in bed, he'd be out for ten hours, at least.
But just as Gran reached for the door, he saw something flash from the mirror over the front door. He dove to the side, taking a deep breath. He shot in the air, landing on the rooftops. He scanned the area. But there was nothing. The streets were dark at this time of night, even with the streetlights shining down on them. But there was no movement, nothing out of the ordinary.
Carefully, Gran floated back down to the ground. He narrowed his eyes when he finally saw what had been thrown into the wall—it was a kunai, like what ninjas used. It had a note tied to the handle.
Gran removed the kunai from the wall, opening the attached note. It read: 'Aokighara, southern park in seven days at 5 p.m.'. Gran scoffed, rolling his eyes as he entered the safehouse. Logan had been pulling shit like that ever since their first meeting at Lucky's. "Proving that I'm a ninja", Logan told him once. Gran thought the man just wanted to get some sick kicks in between slaughtering the Yakuza.
"Whatever," Gran mumbled aloud as he stripped off his costume. It'd been a while since he'd visited Aokigahara anyway.
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Gran sighed as he stared out at Mt. Fuji and the surrounding forest. He didn't normally care for nature, but even he had to admit there was something beautiful about this place at sunset. And the view from the top of the mountain…The sea of green down below, the sun peeking out from the horizon at dawn, the cold, fresh air flowing through your hair. When Toshinori came back home, he'd have to make time to finally take him to the peak.
Gran heard heavy footsteps come up behind him. He looked to his left, Logan stepping up beside him. "I've heard a lot of things about this place," Logan said.
"There's a lot of things to be said."
"It's a popular place to commit suicide."
Gran slowly turned to face Logan. "Something you want to tell me?"
Logan scoffed, but he couldn't keep the frown off his face. "Don't worry. I've given up on killing myself."
"That's not reassuring."
"Wasn't supposed to be."
"Well…" Gran trailed off. Suicide was just something he never really got. Conceptually, he understood what could drive a person to end their life. But personally…he couldn't wrap his head around it. At the very least, he'd try to take someone else down with him.
He saw some birds flying in the corner of his eyes. "Ah!" Gran snapped his fingers. "Yokai! A lot of them call Aokigahara home."
"Yokai?" Logan slowly repeated. "Like Kappa, Tengu, Oni? Those are real?"
"Oh c'mon." Gran rolled his eyes. "Western gods have been proven as real. Why can't Japan's spirits—and other countries' for that matter—exist as well?"
"Thor and other so-called gods are basically aliens," Logan replied. "But I've fought a Wendigo a couple of times, so what do I know?"
"Wendigo?"
"A person placed under a Native American curse." Logan raised his arms. "Turns them into giant, monstrous cannibals."
Gran furrowed his brow. "What?"
"Yeah." Logan chuckled. "It's wild."
Gran hummed. "Never dealt with any cannibals, but I've had to deal with a few kidnappings."
"Really?" Logan arched a brow.
"Sure." Gran shrugged. "A fair number of Yokai are either deceased humans given supernatural powers, or the collective, strong feelings of hundreds of people over hundreds of years. They get obsessive over things like…ex-lovers or lost children."
Logan hummed, staring out onto Mt. Fuji. "Sounds like a problem."
"Used to be worse," Gran said, leaning against the railing. "Way worse. Things got better during the Meiji period—when Japan really got into the swing of modernization. But in the 1960s, the Yokai started policing themselves, and that cut things down to, like, 10 incidents a year."
"The 1960's." Logan repeated. "That's when the Yokai came out to the public, right?"
"Yeah," Gran said, a little impressed. "Not a lot of foreigners know about that."
"Mariko told me," Logan said easily. Gran blinked, staring at him. Logan turned to Gran, lips curling into a gruff frown.
"Nothing, just…this is the first time you've said her name and not looked like you want to jump off a tall building." Gran's gaze shifted to the forest below. "…That wasn't a challenge, by the way."
Logan chuckled. "Like I said, I've given up on suicide." He sighed, staring up at the darkening sky. "And it'd be an insult to her memory to treat every reminder of her with sadness." Gran hummed. He wished he'd come to that realization sooner about Nana. Could've gotten a lot more shit done. Then maybe Toshinori could come home sooner.
"What was Mariko like—if you don't mind me asking," Gran asked.
Logan sighed, eyes dropping down to the forest below. "She was…ambitious. Wanted more from life than what was given to her."
"Ah yes," Gran scoffed. "The only daughter of one of the most prominent Yakuza heads of the century. Truly, a pathetic lot in life." He gulped at the dark glare Logan sent his way. "Sorry, just…old habits. You know, fighting the Yakuza as long as I have."
"…Fair enough." Logan turned away with a sigh. "Anyway, Harada's an old-fashioned man. Gave Mariko a lot, but never expected much of her beyond marrying her off to some bastard to line his own pockets."
"I assume this is where you enter the picture."
Logan sniffed, rubbing his nose. "I'd already been in Japan for a bit—no destination in mind, but never staying in one place for too long. Ended up in Okinawa, and I saw some thugs harassing a couple women."
"Mariko was one of them?"
"Yup." Logan chuckled. "Knowing what I know now, between her own skills and her bodyguards lurking in the shadows, she wasn't in any real danger. But since I didn't know that I rushed in and knocked those punks into the pavement."
"Ah." Gran's voice gained a teasing tone. "Love at first sight then?"
"Eh." Logan made a so-so gesture. "I'll admit she smelled nice, but the dress she was wearing that night wasn't doing her any favors—too many different-sized stripes. And I'll be the first to admit that my default look is a step above a hobo, so I know she didn't see me in too flattering a light." Logan let out a sigh, lips curling into a wistful smile. But all too soon, that smile twisted into a deep, sorrowful frown. "…I'm the reason she's dead." Logan stared down at his hands. "I know Harada didn't like us together—I gave Mariko 'ideas', he said. Gave her the support she needed to walk away from her father, and he hated that. But I thought that didn't matter. Thought I could protect her from anything…I was wrong."
A chill ran down Gran's spine. He'd held similar thoughts about Nana and her death. He still did, in some respects. But he moved past it with one very vital revelation. One that Nana shared with Mariko—despite their obvious differences.
Gran drummed his fingers against the railing. "You know…from what you told me, Harada would probably have done something to Mariko even if you weren't there."
Logan took a deep breath. "Really now?"
Gran held his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying…why not redirect that self-loathing to a more worthy recipient? Someone that's a murderous asshole no matter the circumstance."
Logan was silent for a long moment. But then, his six claws popped out from his hands in a flash. "I think I can give that a whirl." He turned to Gran with a devilish grin. "Got anything that'll help me get to him?"
Gran rubbed his chin, reaching over and laying his arm around his friend's shoulders. "I've got something, yeah."
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A/N: Super short chapter. That's why I'm uploading two at once. A very merry un-birthday everyone!