Majima Saga

Chapter III

"Sacrifice"

Hooligans

Focusing his one eye, Majima swept a quick look across the group charging at him.

The world around him seemed to go grey with only the punks still in vivid color.

He scanned from right to left, checking all around the front of their shirts for any suspicious bumps or bulges.

You see, Majima had a keen eye for certain things in what many would consider "Dangerous Situations".

These certain things would be, guns, knives, the occasional bottle, and so forth.

After almost a decade in the Yakuza, he'd been attacked with so many different types of weapons he'd find odd if someone wasn't trying to stab, shoot, or slash him. It just came with the territory.

Add in the fact that people have fucking superpowers now, being able to spot guns and knives through someone's shirt almost seems like calling dice on a kid's playground.

Nothing there, good to go. Now to just pick one to start and work my way around.

One thug, a young man in a green tracksuit, bravely volunteered to be the cyclops's first vic-*ahem* volunteer.

"Fuck you!" He threw a wild punch, throwing most of his weight behind it, just as he reached the man.

He struck air, before something slammed into his ankle and he began to fall fast.

"What!?"

Slam!

He hit the pavement hard, face first. He wasn't unconscious, but probably wished he was if the pained groan he let out was any indication.

One down, four to go.

Fights against groups are never like the movies.

You hardly ever have assholes in a group try to take you down one-on-one.

It's all a team effort for X amount of people to gang up on, and kick the shit out of, one person.

It's an incredibly smart tactic that would be guaranteed to work on nine out of ten people.

However.

Nine out of ten people aren't Goro Majima.

Two more thugs, clad in dark suits and obviously older and bigger than first, ran up to the tuxedoed civilian together, their obvious intent to do harm present in the punches they threw at him.

They didn't put most of their weight behind their punches like the first one did, but being as thick they were only made life simpler for Majima, who simply used his lithe figure to slip through the gap between the two and grab the collar of one.

"The fuunf-?! " His clearly inappropriate exclamation was cut off as he was roughly pulled back into the front vending machine next to him, before receiving a quick strike to his face.

He began falling forward before the steel tip of a boot found its way into the back of his head. The man's eyes rolled back into his head before he fell forward, hitting the ground with a thud.

Three more.

The other three thugs, likely chinpira if their badges and hotheadedness were anything to go by, were looking rather unsure about whether or not to cut their losses and leave with their pride still intact.

Well that wouldn't be good, the party was just getting started.

Let's see if this gets 'em stirred up.

Looking towards the bigger punk from before, he sneered and said, "Jyama de, debu."

He seemed to take exception to that.

All signs of hesitation left his body as he charged the one-eyed assassin, arms spread out for a grapple.

A grapple that was swiftly evaded, before being countered with a swift chop to the neck.

Two.

Turning to the two remaining hooligans with a toothy grin, he asked, "So, who's next?"

Only to be disappointed with the sight of one punk, who had seemingly passed out from fear, and the smell of urine. Taking a closer look, it seemed like this punk was the one who had started the whole debacle. He wore a flashy suit with his badge featured prominently on the lapel of his blazer.

Damn it, talk about a cock block. Whatever, let's see if I recognize the family you assholes're from.

If they were Sagawa's, it wasn't likely to be a problem. If they weren't, he'd have some explaining to do.

Plucking the unconscious flashy hooligan's badge from his blazer, he gave it a quick gander.

Huh, would you look at that?

Who would've thought that he'd run into punk from that family that night? It wasn't like they were out in force in Sotenbori anymore.

Whatever, not like they could cause me any trouble right now.

He had more important matters to take care of at that moment.

Important matters that seemed to be attempting to tiptoe away quietly.

"Hold the hell up, kid, and pop-a-squat. We gotta talk."

The kid who Majima had just saved(?) stopped in their tracks and sighed before about-facing and moving over to take a seat on a bench.

Majima just got up and followed them, throwing the badge that he had appropriated over his shoulder.

As the man stepped away, the Midoriya Family emblem glinted in the moonlight.

"So what gave ya the bright idea to try and steal from me, kid?"

"..."

"C'mon, I ain't gonna hurt ya or turn ya in. Seems kinda pointless at this point."

"..."

"I ain't got all night."

"..ur cl...s."

"Huh? What was that?"

"Your clo…."

"Ya gotta speak up, kid."

"It was your clothes! Okay? Your clothes! The fancy ass butler shit ya got goin' on!"

Woah, wasn't expectin' that. Where'd all that attitude come from?

"You mean my tux? Sorry kid, but this is a uniform. Sourced from my boss and the only one I got. Shit, I haggled these boots from an old shop goin' outta business a couple'a months ago."

With every word that left the cyclops's mouth, the young… lady, from the sound of her voice, seemed to deflate under her hood.

"So... yer not rich, is what you're sayin'?"

Majima reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"Hold out your hand."

She did and Majima upended his wallet and shook it slightly, allowing its contents to fall onto her open palm.

Three 500-yen coins fell out.

"I-is that it?"

"Yup."

"Are you serious?"

"My jokes ain't this bad."

"Aren't ya supposed to be some 'Lord of The Night' or somethin' around here?"

"That's what people call me, I ain't ever said that's what I was."

"Ya can't even buy a tray o' Takoyaki with this. Don't ya run that big fancy club across town? Where's all the cash goin' from that?"

"Back into the club, ya damn brat."

"Tch. Kuso oyaji ga."

"I heard that, little shit."

"Hmph."

Seeing that this conversation was going nowhere fast, Majima took the initiative.

"Look kid, why're ya out here this late at night? Ain't ya got a place to be gettin' back to? Parents who're worryin'. A granny with a bad heart?"

"No, I don't." And she pulled her legs towards her, curling in on herself.

Shit, she got a helluva lot less mouthy after that.

"So yer tellin' me that ya ain't got anybody waitin' for ya at home?"

"No…"

"So-"

"I'm tellin' ya I ain't got a home. Not here, at least."

Ah, I see.

"So, you ain't got a home here in Osaka. You must be a runaway or somethin' like that."

"Yeah, somethin' like that."

"So… where'd ya run away from?"

"...Shizuoka."

"Shit, that's far! How the hell'd ya end up all the way down here?"

"Black Thunder."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Black Thunder. A bōsōzoku gang. They picked me up one night while they were ridin' through Shizuoka. I've been with 'em for a couple months now."

Ah b ōsōzoku, I've heard about em runnin' through Kyoto and such, but I never heard of pickin' up and droppin' off kids.

"Alright, so you were rollin' with a bōsōzoku gang. That explains how ya got here from Shizuoka to Sotenbori. My next question is, what'd they want with you? Last I heard, they were mostly made up'a teenagers and twenty year olds. You're like, what- ten?"

"I'm twelve! And I'll be thirteen in July. And as for why they took me with 'em..."

She paused, as if thinking about what she should say next.

"My power. My… quirk."

Ah, I see.

"Ya mean that Jedi Force shit you were doin' with my wallet?"

"Uh, yeah. That. Doctors called it 'Attraction of Small Objects', though. I showed it off to Yuya-san -he's the leader of Black Thunder-and he said I could come with."

"Huh, okay. So where are they now?"

The girl stared back down.

"I dunno. We got split up after the cops showed up when we rode into town. I've been on my own for about a week, now."

If it's been a week and she hasn't seen 'em, chances that they're still in town are pretty slim. Last I heard, bōsōzoku don't tend to stick around for very long.

He must've made a face, because the girl seemed to pick up on his thought process really quick.

"Yeah, I know they're probably gone already. I'm twelve, not stupid."

"Alright, then what's your plan. Gonna keep trying to pickpocket unsuspecting passersby? No offense, but it doesn't exactly seem to be your strong suit, kid."

"I was doin' just fine filchin' cash from some drunk idiots before you came along. You're just some kinda freak of nature."

Said the kid with telekinesis and no sense of self-awareness. Might as well set her straight before this gets really dangerous.

"Okay, well what happens when they get wise to ya? Realize, just like I did, that there's some brat with a quirk floatin' shit right outta their pockets. What happens when they start lookin' around for ya? Askin' questions. Keepin' an eye out. Settin' traps. What then?"

"I don't know! Okay? I don't know! I ain't got a plan for everything that comes. I don't know how I'm gonna keep this movin', I just know that I gotta! So if yer not gonna kill me or call the cops, leave me the hell alone, will ya!"

By the time she got to the end of her tirade, the little lady was trembling in anger.

Wait no, that ain't it. Is she-

The drops of water that fell out of the opening of her hood only confirmed the ponytailed man's suspicions.

"Hey kid. I know it looks bad, but you ain't gotta c-"

" 'It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.' "

"Huh?" The hell'd that come from.

" 'It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop'. It's Confucius."

Okay. "Go on."

She reached into her hood, before seemingly wiping away any tears on her face.

"I ain't just gonna sit and wait to die. I wanna live. I'm gonna live as I gotta, I don't care what I gotta do. It doesn't matter how long it takes for me make somethin' of myself. When I do no one's gonna be able to ignore me or leave me behind. You'll see! Everyone will!"

Shit, that's a lotta conviction. Still, I can't just leave her out on the street. If something did happen, I'd feel responsible. But what do I do?

After a few moments of thought, Majima's eye lit up as he had his lightbulb moment.

"Alright, kid. That's a good dream. And I wanna help ya."

This seemed to surprise the girl, if the turn of her head at, what had to be, breakneck speed was any indication.

"Really?" The hope in her voice was palpable.

"Yeah. I just need you to answer three questions for me. That sound alright to you?"

"Y-yeah."

"Alright, first question."

The girl sat up at attention.

"What all can your... quirk? Attraction of Small Things is what you called it, right?"

A nod, "Alright what all can it do?"

"Well, like the name says, I can pull small stuff towards me telekinetically. I dunno the exact limit to it, but the heaviest thing I've ever attracted was this book."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a book with the words, "The Analects" written on the cover.

Huh, so I guess that's where the Confucius came from.

After she handed it to him, he lifted it a couple of times, before lightly tossing it in the air and catching it a few times. It wasn't all that light, but it wasn't back-breakingly heavy either.

Handing the book back to the girl, Majima continued saying, "Alright, next question. You want a place to stay?"

"Huh?"

"It ain't glamorous and there're probably bigger closets than it, but my apartment's got room for one more. I'm never really there, except for when I get off late at night, so it's not like we'd be in each other's way. And you'd only have my… roommate to deal with and he's not likely to object. So… yeah."

He couldn't see her eyes, but he could feel the apprehension coming off of her in waves.

"I dunno, how do I know ya won't try anything… weird?"

"Cuz I ain't interested in bony brats like yerself. Now, if you're done flatterin' yourself, are ya interested or not?"

"...Tch. Fine, Kuso Oyaji ga."

She didn't even try to hide that one. And I'm not that old, I'm 23!

"So what's your next question?"

"Oh right. Last question... What's your name?"

"What?"

"Your name. Y'know the thing that people call ya and that ya respond to."

"I know what a name is, ya jerk."

"Cool beans, so what's yours?"

With a sigh, the girl got up and pulled down her hood. Straight green locks flowed down, framing a pretty face. Big green eyes, slightly puffy and red, stared back at him.

"It's Inko. Inko Terasawa. What about you? I never got your name."

Oh right, suppose it'd be kinda difficult for us to live together without her knowin' my name.

With a small smile, perfected after months of customer service work, he said, "Well, Inko-chan, my name is Goro Majima. Whaddya say we show ya to your new home, huh?"

Seeing as Ashibata Park was only a few minutes away from his apartment, it didn't take long for him to have his key in the door as he shouted, "Tadaima!" into his abode. Inko jumped, obviously startled by the man's sudden rise in tone.

As the door creaked open, if one strained their ears as Inko did, one could hear the sound of a very groggy, "Okaeri." coming from inside.

As the pair walked inside, taking their shoes off as they did, the girl could see what Majima meant about the apartment being small. If it were three adults living there, it would probably be a pretty uncomfortable fit. In one corner of the room, there lied what looked to be a fūton. An occupied fūton.

The one-eyed man called out to it.

"Yo, Hi-chan. Wake the hell up. I got someone for ya to meet."

The fūton groaned, "Ugh. Nii-san, it's 2 in the morning. Can't it wait?"

"Hi-chan, wake up before I get the spray bottle again."

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the fūton was no longer occupied.

Instead, there stood a boy. He couldn't have been any older than Inko. He had untamed curly dark hair, likely only made more unkempt by fact that he had just been in bed seconds earlier.

His cheeks were chubby with a set of freckles in a diamond formation on both.

His eyes were big and expressive, if a bit drowsy at that moment.

"Ah good, you're awake. Meet your new roommate."

He jabbed his thumb in Inko's direction, saying, "That's Inko-chan."

Turning his head towards Inko, he pointed in the boy's direction and said, "Inko-chan. That's Hisashi-chan. Get along, you two."

At that, he opened the one window in the room, before taking out a cigarette and putting the end of it in front of Hisashi's face.

"Do ya mind, Hi-chan?"

Rather than answer verbally, Hisashi nodded his and took a breath through the nose and held it.

About three seconds passed before he released that breath, parting his lips ever so slightly. It seemed strange to Inko, who was looking rather confused. But it all made sense when a small stream of fire began to flow from between the boy's lips.

It wasn't for long, the flames fizzled out a few seconds after they appeared and Hisashi was out of breath afterwards.

"You're gettin' better, more control and ya lasted longer too. Keep doing the breathin' exercises in those books I got ya and ya might get up to a full minute soon."

After Hisashi caught his breath and nodded, Majima walked back over to the window.

He brought his, now lit, cigarette to his lips and took a long drag. There was a beat of silence, almost uncomfortable for Inko, being the newcomer and all.

"H-hey, Inko-San."

The silence was broken unexpectedly by Hisashi.

"Huh? Somethin' ya need?"

"Ah, we-well you see. It's-uh. Well-um. I-um. It's just..."

The curly haired boy's face was slightly tinged with red, and he was looking everywhere but her eyes. He was also stumbling over every other word.

It kind of(read: really) annoyed the girl that he was trying to talk to.

"Uh, it's just-"

"Would ya spit out, already!?"

"Ah! I just wanted to say welcome and sorry for my Nii-san being… him."

"Heard that, ya little shit!"

The Lord of The Night was promptly ignored.

"So… yeah. Welcome, and I'm sorry."

"O-oh, thanks I guess. Sorry for yellin' at ya."

The corners of the freckled teen's lips lifted into a shaky smile.

"D-don't worry about it. It's nothing that Nii-san doesn't do on a daily basis."

Another moment of silence passed as the two nodded in understanding and a mutual bond of pain was formed. The adult in the room simply pretended not to notice the two ungrateful brats that he was housing.

The silence was broken once again, this time by Inko as she began to giggle into her hand.

Her giggles got louder and louder, until they became full blown laughter. She started to laugh so hard that she was bent over at the waist, tears in her eyes.

Hisashi wasn't much better off, he was almost on the floor. His face was starting to turn red with how much he'd been laughing.

Majima… he just stood at the window and smiled as he took another drag from his cigarette.

It was lively for quite some time after that.

And laughter echoed through the streets of Sotenbori for a good many nights after.

A week later…

Hisashi had a bounce in his step as he walked hand-in-hand with his father.

It was his birthday, one of the few days in the year where his dad could spend more than a few hours with him and he was allowed to put off his studies until the next day.

He grinned toothily at his old man as they made their way to his favorite okonomiyaki restaurant for dinner. They'd eat there and make their way back to the family office to grab his present before heading home for the night.

He wasn't excited to head to the office.

He always had a bad feeling when he saw Hyosuke-san there. His father said that he trusted the man, but he also hadn't seen the way that he looked at Hisashi when the older man wasn't around. Granted, Hyosuke-san's face usually made it look like he had tasted something sour, but there was just something… wrong about the way he looked at the boy.

Something sinister. Hungry, even. It was scary, but he didn't wanna worry his father, who already had a lot on his plate.

That aside, it wasn't like he would have to be there for too long anyway. They were just going to grab his present and go.

His father gave him a gentle smile, the wrinkles near his eyes crinkling as he did.

Bang!

Hisashi shot up, quick as a bullet, as he clutched his chest.

His breathing was heavy and he could smell smoke in the air.

He could tell that it was mostly from his quirk, him having let out his fire breath in his stressed state.

But he could also smell cigarette smoke, that wasn't from him.

Looking over towards the doorway, he didn't see his guardian(of sorts)'s shoes.

So that only left one person.

"Hisashi-kun?"

Without even looking towards the window his suspicions were confirmed.

Taking a quick breath, he steeled himself and smiled.

Lo and behold, there stood Inko with Goro-niisan's ashtray in hand. In it, among a number of old butts, sat a freshly stubbed cigarette. Hers, if basic logic were to be used.

Inko was a smoker. She'd made that clear on the second night of her stay. Neither of the other two residents really minded, Goro-Niisan only really wanted her to make sure she used her own pack and Hisashi grew up around a ton of smokers, his dad and Goro-niisan being the most prominent examples.

Inko was nice. She could be a bit rough around the edges and swore a lot, but still nice. She had an interest in philosophy and gave him a book to read so they could discuss it.

Inko was pretty. Hisashi was at the age where girls smelled really nice and Inko, cigarette scent aside, smelled and looked really, really good. He might've had a bit of a small crush on her, but he really had no idea where to go from there.

Inko was… staring at him pretty worriedly.

"Is… everything okay, Hisashi-kun?"

"Y-yeah? Why do you ask?"

"Your pillow."

Huh?

He reached back and felt his pillow, his hand came back slick with sweat.

Oh.

Bang!

His father's smile twisted into a pained grimace.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Musashi wrapped his arms around his son. His large frame shielding the boy from any of the other shots coming from behind him.

Hisashi could feel his father tense up every time his back was hit.

His breathing was heavy. He could hear his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest.

Tears were streaming down his face as he felt arms wrap around him.

Neither Inko nor he said anything.

She didn't ask for an explanation.

He didn't offer one.

They just sat there quietly in that one room apartment, as one of them cried softly.

At that moment, Hisashi had never been more grateful to have someone there to see him cry.

July 5th

"C'mon, Hisashi-kun! Goro-nii's payin', so we might as well go big!"

"O-okay!" Hisashi's face was bright red as he was pulled along by the now thirteen year old Inko while Majima chuckled behind them.

It was her birthday and Majima had offered to take the two kids to dinner at the place of the birthday girl's choosing. He took off early from The Grand and told the floor manager to page if something urgent came up. Otherwise, he was off for the night.

Inko, being Inko, chose Komian, a traditional restaurant for japanese cuisine that happened to be right across the street from Majima's apartment. It was also pretty expensive.

But, he had promised, so they were going.

He could only hope that she would take mercy on his wallet, which happened to fit to burst that night for the occasion.

After hearing the young teen order two of everything on the menu, that hope began to burn like a piece of overcooked tripe.

And as she went back for seconds, his wallet seemed to tremble in fear.

When she ordered one more platter of sushi, he could hear it sob knowing that it would soon be empty once more.

But as he looked at Inko's smiling face as she joked and laughed with a still furiously blushing Hisashi, he felt as though it was well worth it.

200 grand dinner bill be damned.

November 20th

It was starting to get colder out.

A fact that Hisashi and Inko lamented as they walked through Shofukucho, looking for a gift to give to their guardian for Christmas the next month.

One might say it was a bit early to worry about Christmas in November, but they couldn't help it. They had been saving up the allowances that Majima had been giving them since August.

His reason for doing so, when they asked, was that The Grand was raking in so much cash on a nightly basis that no one would notice if ¥10,000 went missing every once-in-a-while.

Especially since he was the one that managed the books.

He gave it to them to go out and have a good time at the Sega Hi Tech Land or one of the restaurants near his place, if they felt like it.

It's your money, he said, Do what ya want with it.

They wanted to spend it on him, so there they were.

The only problem was…

"So… ya got any idea what Goro-nii would want, Hisashi-kun?"

"A-ah, I... don't, actually."

"Oh…"

That.

So they strolled the streets near the apartment, Hisashi racking his brain and muttering rampantly for anything that his 'Nii-san' had said that he liked before, and Inko with an unlit cigarette hanging from her lips as she stared into store window after store window.

Suddenly she stopped in her tracks and grabbed Hisashi's wrist as she pointed into a window saying, "Look there!"

Hisashi, forcibly snapped out his thoughts, skidded to a stop and looked towards the shop window that the young lady was pointing at.

"You know… I think that might work."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

And the two fools grinned at each other, before stepping into the shop to make their purchase.

"Achoo!"

"Woah! That was a big one. Ya gettin' sick there, buddy?"

"No. I'm fine."

Majima sniffled slightly as he reached down and picked up the briefcase filled with that month's payment, sitting it on the table in front of him and sliding it across.

Tsukasa Sagawa opened it, giving the bills inside a quick glance and closed it, seemingly satisfied with what he had seen inside.

"Alright buddy. Everything seems to be in order. I'll be back next month."

He got up to leave, before stopping as though he had remembered something important.

"Almost forgot. Here." He reached into his suit's jacket, pulling out a wooden box.

"It's an early Christmas gift from Brother Shimano. Said it should give ya something to look forward to in about a year or so."

"..."

Sagawa shrugged and walked his way out of the office, leaving Majima alone at the table.

Boss sent me a gift, huh?

Reaching out and grabbing the box, he took off the top.

Peering in, he saw… a knife.

A tanto, to be exact.

One that he had seen before.

Just before his left eye was gouged out.

Majima slammed the top back onto the box, grabbing it and shoving it into the inside of his tuxedo jacket.

Two years passed or not, Futoshi Shimano still had a really sick sense of humor.

Hisashi bounded down the street with Inko's and his gift-wrapped present for their Nii-san.

It had been expensive, costing a good 40,000 yen, but well worth it. It fit their guardian's personality and style so perfectly that it must've been fate that they were the ones to see it and buy that night.

They just had to get back to the apartment quickly so that they could hide before the adult in their lives got home.

Unfortunately, they were moving so quickly and paying so little attention to their surroundings that they didn't notice the suit-clad man coming around the corner just before they reached their street.

Hisashi ended up colliding with the man and they both ended up tumbling to the ground.

"Oof!"

"Ack!"

"Watch where the hell you're goin' brat!"

"S-sorry, mister!"

The older man got up and dusted himself off before giving a scrutinizing look to the boy who had just barreled into him and was now all apologies, suddenly his gaze shifted into one of recognition.

"O-oyaji?"

Hisashi was too caught up in apologizing to notice what the man had said.

Inko, who had been off to the side, apologized once more for the boy before pushing him along and disappearing around the corner, scooping their fallen package up along the way.

The man that they had bumped into, Tsubasa Kurosawa, stood there frozen for another moment before turning around and walking away with purpose in his step.

"Hyosuke-aniki's gonna wanna hear about this."

November 30th

"Ah Majima, there you are, take a seat right there."

Majima did as he was told, taking a seat on the pillow across from his boss at the low table in his office.

On the table, there lied a shogi board with the pieces for both sides set up.

"You wanted to see me, boss?"

"I did. You play Shogi, Majima?"

"Sometimes, boss."

"Are ya good?"

"I couldn't say. I haven't played a ton, boss."

"Heh. Good enough for me. I wanna talk to ya, but I'm also in the mood for some Shogi. You'll indulge me, won't ya?"

"Whatever you want, boss."

"That's the spirit! Why don't ya start us off, then?"

He had no reason to refuse, so he picked up a piece and made his first move.

Clack!

"Hashiru Hashiru! Oretachi

Nagareru Asemo Sono Mamani

Itsuka Tadori Tsuitara

Kimini Uchiake Rarerudarou!"

"Whoo! Sing it, Hi-chan!"

"You're doin' great, Hisashi-kun!"

Man, if only she knew he was singing this song to her.

It was Hisashi's birthday, and rather than drain his caregiver's wallet at an expensive restaurant, the newly thirteen year old boy decided that he wanted to karaoke with his crush and older brother figure.

They were having a good time and Hisashi decided that he wanted to take the first song of the night.

It was a fun night.

Clack!

"Ya know the fun thing about Shogi, Majima?"

"No boss, what's that?"

Clack!

"Yoku no neon ni" "Oh, rogue of love!"

"Yogorete iku my heart" "Come take my heart!"

"Youshokugyo no you ni" "Odomeche you ni!"

"Yamiwo oyo gu wa " "Oh, rogue of love"

Yep, kid's got it bad. Don't worry, I'm sure if ya keep this up, she'll notice eventually.

Clack!

"It's the strategy. Comin' up with a plan, analyzin' your opponent, and comin' up with the win in the end."

Clack!

"Sunao ni I LOVE YOU! Todokeyou ﾠ

Kitto YOU LOVE ME! Tsutawaru sa? ﾠ

Kimi ni niau GLASS no kutsu wo sagaso?"

"You sound great, Nii-san!"

"Hit those notes, Goro-nii!"

Clack!

"The most useful piece for all that plannin' and such, would be the pawn, I'd say."

He lifted the pawn that he had captured mere seconds before.

"They're all about chess, over in the west. Funny enough, there's a pawn in that game as well. A lot less versatile than a pawn in shogi. But I digress, the pawn's beauty lies in its simplicity."

Clack!

The two teens and their live-in cyclops were leaving the karaoke bar.

They had all sung their hearts out and were having a good time, so they were headed to Tsuruhashi Fugetsu for some okonomiyaki.

They were about to round the corner into Bunzaemon Outdoor Mall before they heard footsteps behind them.

This wouldn't be too strange if they weren't so hurried and in such large numbers.

Turning around, the trio saw a crowd of men blocking the way behind them.

In the direction that they had been headed, they heard more footsteps.

Turning his head, Majima could see that that direction was blocked as well.

There was one more way to go, but they'd have to outrun all of those guys. Not quite optimal.

Shit.

"Yo, been a while, Hisashi-kun!"

Majima could see Hisashi freeze up.

The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

From the one unblocked path in the park, there walked a man. He was wearing expensive looking clothes, they likely ran him over half a mil, if his eye for the material proved right.

"What's wrong, Hisashi-kun? Don't ya remember me?" He had a smug grin on his face. The ponytailed man wanted to smack it off his face.

"H-Hyosuke-san…" The boy was shaking now and his voice trembled with him, Inko grabbed his hand.

"Ah, seems like ya do remember and ya got a little girlfriend too. How cute." He seemed to finally notice Majima standing next to the boy and his grin twisted into a scowl.

"Huh? The fuck're you?"

A pissy-looking prick came to the door.

"Fuck do ya want?"

"So that's where I know ya from. What do ya want with Hi-chan here?"

"I don't see how that's any of yer business, asshole. So why don't ya make like a tree and get the fuck outta here?"

"Wow, so original. I can see why ya had to kill your boss to be in charge."

That seemed to shock the man.

"How didja-?" He turned his gaze from Majima to the boy next to him. His scowl deepened considerably.

"Chatty little shit, ain't ya? We'll fix that. " He turned his gaze back to Majima. "You. How much do ya know?"

"I know that ya shot a boy's father right in front of him, on his birthday. And ya chased him out of his home after taking over his father's business, and that you're a prick. Am I missin' anything Captain Hyosuke Serizawa?"

"Patriarch Hyosuke Serizawa. And yeah, you are. You missed the fact that I saved this fuckin' family. I did what was best for it. That's not a boy ya got there, it's an asset and a truly helpful soldier uses whatever assets he can to come out on top. Even if some people gotta be sacrificed for the good of his army."

"You're goddamn delusional."

"And you're dead. Kill him, boys. Bring me the boy, alive. I don't care what ya do with the girl."

"Right, boss!" They began to encroach.

Majima settled into a fighting stance, telling the teenagers with him to get behind him.

"Fine then. If ya wanna get to hell quicker… step right up!"

Midoriya Family

They were on him in seconds, two of them swinging on both sides.

Clack!

"Ya see Majima, the bishops here can move diagonally in four directions. As long as there're open spaces for it to occupy or pieces to capture."

He emphasized his point by taking one of his bishops and moving it to the edge of the board.

"See what I mean? Lotta distance in one turn. But, there's still a flaw with the Bishop. Take a look at the space in front of it."

There sat one pawn.

Thud!

One of the thugs fell forward and hit the ground hard as Majima ducked forward under his punch and kicked him in the back.

The other one attempted to whip back with an elbow, unprepared to come up empty with his swing and more surprised to feel an arm squeezing around his neck. He tried to struggle. He really did, but…

Crack!

His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he hit the ground with a dead thump!

Clack!

"Next up's the Lance. It can move straight forward as far as it wants, as long there's space to occupy or piece to capture."

At that, he took one of his lances and slid it across the board, taking a pawn and promoting his own piece.

"Diiie!" Another thug flew straight at him, attempting to dropkick the one-eyed man, but ended up missing completely when Majima side-stepped him. He flew straight past the man and landed next to Inko and Hisashi.

Clack!

"See ain't that great? Check, by the way."

He grabbed at the latter's ankle, which caused the former to stomp down hard on his wrist.

Crack!

"Good use of the Gold General."

Clack!

"Aughhh!"

Good job, kid!

He couldn't verbalize his agreement with his charge's actions, as he was soon grabbed from behind by another punk and another came up towards him with a fist raised.

"Got ya now, asshole!"

He kicked forward, nailing the guy in his stomach and sending him flying, before he dropped down out of the hold he was in, catching himself with his elbow and kicking his assailant in the face with a high kick.

"Ya sure about that?"

Clack!

"But you see, the pawn can only move one space. Just one, and it can only go forward. It likely won't ever capture the king, but…"

Bang!

"That's enough!"

Serizawa seemed to have enough of seeing his boys get torn apart.

The smoking gun and the bullet that had just whizzed by Majima's face were pretty big indicators of that.

His face was twisted into a snarl as he aimed the gun back at the cyclops's face and began to squeeze the trigger.

"It can be the perfect distraction leadin' to-"

Bang!

The gun flew from the Midoriya Family Patriarch's hand and clattered when it hit the ground.

"You're right. That is enough, Serizawa-chan."

And there stood Tsukasa Sagawa, Patriarch of the Sagawa Family, Progenitor of the Midoriya Family. Behind him stood at least thirty of his men, armed with bats, knives, bottles and a number of other instruments designed to do harm.

And none of them looked happy.

"Checkmate"

"Good play, Majima. When'd ya pick up on my plan?"

"I didn't. I just saw an opportunity and took it."

"Heh. A different strategy, but one that fits ya, I'd say."

"You can go, Majima-chan. Me and the boys here have got some… trash to take care of here in the park. You should take the kids and go celebrate the boy's birthday. You're only thirteen once after all."

Majima didn't say a word, nodding and ushering the two teens out over the unconscious bodies of thugs long beaten.

"Hold up a minute, Majima-chan. Here."

He handed him an envelope.

"Consider that an early Christmas present from Mu-chan and I. And tell Hisashi that I said… 'Happy Birthday'."

Majima nodded mutely before walking out of the park and taking the kids back to the apartment, at their behest.

The Midoriya Family was never heard from again in Sotenbori after that night.

December 5th

"Do we really have to do this Nii-san?"

"Yeah, it's for the best. Don't worry, I'll still be with ya. Right here." He pointed at the boy's chest, right at his heart.

"That's some corny shit, Goro-nii!"

"Shut it, you! You can just go, no goodbye for you!"

"Yeah? Well, I don't your stupid goodbye! Hmph!"

"Too bad, cuz you're gettin' it anyway. C'mere." He quickly ruffled her before she could get away.

"Dammit, Goro-nii! It's gonna take me hours to get this fixed."

"Serves ya right!"

The young greenette glared at the one-eyed man as he stared back with a shit-eating grin.

She eventually caved and wrapped her arms around the man's neck, bringing him into a tight hug.

Majima reciprocated, reaching over to Hisashi and bringing him in close to them to make the hug a group hug.

"Alright, you two better get goin'. The address is written on the paper I gave ya last night. And the first two years of rent's already paid. Ya just gotta get there and do well in school. Got it?"

The two younger people nodded in unison.

"Alright then. Go on now. Shoo. Get outta here. Go on and terrorize Shizuoka for a couple years, ya hooligans."

Inko stuck out her tongue at him and turned to get in the taxi that was waiting for the two.

Hisashi stood for a moment before saying, "Nii-san, when you get home tonight, check under floorboards under the table, okay? We left something there for you. Merry Christmas."

His piece said, Hisashi waved and followed Inko into the taxi.

When the door closed, it pulled off into the distance, further and further until...

They were gone.

Majima was gonna miss those two.

The city felt a little bit less like a cage with them around.

But if they were going to be able to live happy and free from all the bullshit he was stuck in, he'd be plenty happy to sacrifice a bit of comfort.

That's just what a Nii-san would do.

Right, bro?

Later that night...

Majima moved his table to the side. The floor under it looked normal enough.

Hisashi had said to check under the floorboards, so he reached towards one end and pulled.

Several boards came up together, revealing a compartment that he could've sworn wasn't there when he moved in.

Hope I don't gotta pay to get that repaired.

And in that compartment, was a wrapped bundle.

A gift.

He pulled it out and looked at it fondly for a moment.

Damn kids. I gave ya that money to use for yourselves.

Despite his thoughts, he made short work of the wrapping paper.

What lied beneath it was...

The tackiest jacket he'd ever seen.

Geez, it ain't really my style. You'd have to be blind or crazy to wear somethin' like this in public.

But it was thought that counted, so instead of throwing it in the trash(as most sensible people would), he opened his closet and took out a hanger.

When he closed the closet back, therewithin hung two things.

A shimmering, spangled idol costume.

And a gaudy, golden snakeskin jacket.