A massive van that was closer to being a small bus was parked off to the side of the road in the rather compact neighborhood where both it's driver and owner were finishing up removing the flat that had landed him here in the first place. It was still a little chilly with fall settling in and the greenery was turning to various colors of dull brown to vibrant macaroon yellow. Sun was passing it's high point and sitting at an angle off to the side and still it was cold enough to see one's breath. The one fixing the flat yanked off his knitted cap and with it he revealed his head of platinum white hair. His beard was full and matching the beard was an upper lip groomed with a moustache just as well trimmed as the underside of his chin. The sides of his beard connected to his hair and created a seamless aesthetic of head hair that oozes male charm.
This man was Haru. He was rather put off at the moment since he was getting his hands dirty with soot off of the rim and sides of his rear wheel. It wasn't so much that he was concerned about his clothes since he wore rather minimal clothing, but he was not happy getting his hands stained in road dust. His dress was simple with brown chinos, expensive blue and white running shoes, a black crew cut t-shirt with a leather jacket, and on his left wrist he sported a black steel watch with a brown leather strap as well as beads and fabric wristbands on the right wrist. The knit cap was the same color as his shirt before he had taken it off.
Haru was done with removing the punctured tire and setting it down with the rim facing up next to him. He took a drink of water from the plastic bottle next to his back right foot. The cold water helped to rehydrate and remove that drying mucus sensation sticking to his throat. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and went on to use the same water to rinse off the pitch black stains that polluted his hands. It wasn't perfect but he could keep working on getting his spare now. With one push off his left knee Haru got back up to his feet and went to retrieve the tire that was just out of arm's reach to the left. He lifted the large piece of rubber and steel in his hands so that it wouldn't touch his clothing. It wasn't out of concern of some personal sense of vanity; if customer's coming to his stall began to notice a filthy set of streaks on his clothes they would start asking questions about the validity of his sanitary practices. The fourteen seconds he took to turn around and lift the tire up, he failed to notice his van doing something rather particular.
The Volkswagen aesthetic in Japan was odd enough for most citizens since most didn't even drive; let alone own their own vehicle. Haru had the van custom made since there wasn't a model from the German manufacturer that was large enough around the waste for his desire to use it as a food truck. So when he turned back around to begin retrieving his spare tire from the undercarriage; Haru couldn't help but feel like something was slightly off with his van. It was like it was tilting so slightly that for anybody looking at the same thing they would easily be forgiven for thinking they were just seeing things. It was very subtle and gradual, so Haru didn't really panic or fuss as he just took a closer look and indeed saw that his van was now pretty much weightless and lifting off the ground.
Not wanting the thing to start taking off on it's own, Haru just put the flat tire he was carrying down for now and gripped the driver's side front door and just pinned it lightly to the ground. It wasn't even a few seconds later when the whole thing suddenly rattled and slammed down to the road with just its weight. The sounds of glass and metalware smashing and colliding inside of the van's built in kitchen told Haru that it wasn't just the van that was weightless just now; apparently everything stored inside of it became weightless as well and when the gravity returned to the van they too returned to normalcy and fell wherever it was they were in the air when the van did the same. It was odd but for what it was Haru was more mildly annoyed about the idea that he would have to reorganize his immaculate kitchen than anything. He wasn't even all that shocked or surprised over the sudden levitation act his custom piece of auto work just pulled.
He could guess that the multiple glass jars holding his spices and seasonings were the last to settle inside of their cabinets as the crashing and clinking noises finally stopped. Haru took his hand off the door handle and was rather curious as to the odd turn of events when he heard a small set of boots trying to run off before the sounds of vomiting and wet plopping from the other side of his van queued him in on who may have done the magic levitation act on his place of business just now. He plodded around the front of his van and in the middle of the empty street he saw a little girl on her face in a puddle of her own vomit. She was a rather comical sight to behold but he would wager she had a hand in what just happened. He put his confusion to the side since now it seemed a small girl passed out in a puddle of vomit was now his problem. Yeah, he could just leave it and just pretend he saw nothing; he could, but doing so he would have to follow up his act of ignorance with a healthy chugging of bleach to clean his stomach out of the bile that would sit at the bottom of his gullet if he did just that.
"Uh, hey kid… You ok?"
A groan and moan of pain was all he got from the collapsed figure. He sighed and decided to stop wasting time to help the poor kid up.
Fifteen Minutes Later
The little girl was sitting in a stool that was placed at the serving bar of Haru's food truck. Haru's custom build of a food truck had a rather unique serving area with retractable countertops sp that when he was done with the day and needed to pack it up he could just use the van's built in motors to fold down everything and close the sliding door that opened up the side of the van for the serving area. He served alcohol at later hours as well so there was a bar aesthetic to the serving area and in the undercarriage there was a storage area for stools and round tables. At times he felt like his customers deserved a bit of a dine in an area to socialize in; it was nice to see new people interact and new friendships bloom for people who were rather isolated and alone in their lives.
On a stool of decent height since he had to adjust the stem so that the small child could use the countertop to balance her ginger ale as she sipped at the carbonated drink sat a little girl with a head of brown bob cut hair with bangs revealing a cute button face. She wasn't as cute as usual with the look of nausea on her face as she kept sucking up the ginger ale through the bendy straw Haru gave her for her glass cup. She was regaining color in her face as now her body was recovering electrolytes and the fizz was helping massage her stomach after the bout of sickness she was just now a victim of. Haru could guess from context that the little girl sipping soda at his bar was the one that removed the gravity that held his van down to the ground and that since it was too heavy for someone as young as her she got sick after trying to help him change his tire. There was no harm done and Haru was quick to help the girl after her failed act of benevolence.
Kneeling out of sight, Haru was organizing the last of the jumbled mess that was caused by the little girl's attempts to help him. In no time the tire was swapped out after he had recovered the girl from her lounging spot in the middle of the road. For what it was worth she wasn't too hurt and the vomit stuck to her face and hair was rinsed out easily enough with some bottled water. After the last bottle of five spice was reset inside of its rightful place; Haru Got back up and engaged the mystery child properly for the first time.
"So, I guess I should thank you for giving me an excuse to reorganize my spice cabinet."
There was no ill intention with the small ribbing he gave the little girl but still there was a look of guilt as she averted her eyes down from Haru's. The ribbing nature of his words were missed by the girl so he corrected himself immediately.
"Hey, hey. I didn't mean it like that, kiddo. It's not a big deal and nobody got hurt; so don't be so hard on yourself. If anything I should thank you for trying to help me when nobody was around."
Her eyes peeked up a bit at Haru and he elaborated.
"You could have just walked away and nobody would have been the wiser. You tried to help me when you knew you were going to get sick and that takes some serious courage. So thank you! You saved me and I am forever grateful."
Eye contact was a very effective way to communicate sincerity between people when they tried to be earnest with the other party. Children found something like this rather intense so even as the little chestnut haired girl bashfully looked away Haru knew she was aware of his gratitude. The moment of flattery was cut short as a small gurgling sound coming from the little girl's stomach. The normal response for a girl in front of strangers for her bodily noises would be embarrassment; Haru was quick on the uptake and moved to distract the girl from such a reaction.
"You want something to eat? I'm trying something new and I haven't had the time to test it out, so I could use some feedback for some pastries I just made the other day."
She perked up at the idea of having some delicate and sweet pastries. Everything Haru said to her was all just a ploy to get the child to forget about embarrassing herself in front of a stranger. The idea that Haru needed to test his dishes was laughable at best for anyone who had his cooking. Everything he made for his customers was leagues above what any of his customers have had in their entire lives. Constantly he had offers to become an employee or personal caterer for the highest bidder wherever he went. Just the same he turned them down for just being someone who serves the people he wanders into as a food truck. It's so prolific that the offers that he receives are still open for him to take at a twenty-four hour basis and still they all try to woo him with their money and other services.
The girl was excited to see what kind of delicious sweets would come out of his ovens so with a quick swap of outerwear into his custom apron he washed his hands spotless and got to work on some french and danish pastries. The overhead awning that shielded the patrons at the bar had built in heating elements and kept the girl from succumbing to the autumn chill setting in around the duo. Haru was already forming a dough on the wood work surface and without any sort of major spillage or stain on his dark clothing. Dry elements combined with wet and soon a dough with amazing amounts of leavening already worked in by hand was left covered to let the yeast do the last of the detail work. The fillings and creams were next and in a blinding flurry of confectionary ingredients; Haru assembled all of the extra accoutrements for the desserts.
Amazingly after just ten minutes Haru began working the dough into their final shapes and popped them all into the preheated oven for the next part of the baking process. The extra elements were wrapped up and once the timer went off on the oven Haru retrieved tray's of delicate pastries so delicate and fluffy breathing on the flaky feathers on the exteriors of them would have removed a layer of browned crust. The child never even noticed the layers of sweet butter and jam that Haru snuck into all the individual pastries as he finished up the cooking. He had made all of the sweet jams, sauces, and butters as the finishing touches and not as a final element to complete the desserts. Her anticipation was at an all time high just as Haru spoke again to the child.
"What's your name? I don't think I know what to call you right now."
The little girl was brought to attention and also realized she never introduced herself. Although considering she tried to use her quirk on his van and he's been baking for her for a bit she relented and passed judgement that he wasn't a bad guy.
"O-ochako. Ochako Uraraka…"
"Miss Ochaco, pleasure to meet you; my name is Nakamura Haru. Nice to meet you."
Haru was polite in offering a clean hand and Ochaco could barely get her hand around two of his much larger digits. They shook and shared a friendly smile as Haru returned to his work on the finished pastries. Ochaco was again focused on the delectable sweets steaming away on the trays and after moving the bread onto baskets with wax paper Haru presented two baskets of bread for Ochaco to try out for herself.
The baskets were set in front of the eager child and with the first piece of twisted bread wrapped around a core of butter and sugar she sank her teeth into the pastry and for a moment she thought that she missed the bread itself with how little resistance her teeth felt biting in. Her tongue was shocked with how delicate of a taste she was enveloped in as Ochako began chewing what she actually had bitten off. It wasn't cloyingly sweet like other buttery pastries she's had on occasion and the texture was akin to biting into feathers made of the fluffy exterior of the finest baked goods. Her eyes teared up and in no time at all the dessert was gone and she was already on her second bit of baked french bread.
Haru was always happy to see another child enjoy his cooking and finish what he put in front of them. This was a rare case where he made more than was possible for the young adolescent to finish for them to take back to their family. Surely enough, Ochaco finished four more pastries and had downed two glasses of whole milk before patting her belly satisfied with her meal of decadent foreign pastries. The two weaved baskets were covered with a sheet of wax paper and with the untouched basket at the bottom Haru put all the bread he made into a plastic bag and placed it on the countertop in front of Ochako. Her response was understandably confused and without answering Haru exited his kitchen out the back and helped the child down from the rather tall seating arrangement he placed her on. Once down he gave her the plastic bag filled with fine pastries and unable to grab the handles of the bag without dragging the whole thing Haru tied it off as she held the package from the bottom.
"There you go, take that home to your family and enjoy it with your parents! If you wanna try anything else I make here just stop by whenever I'm here. My stall is always open for someone who tried to help me through my time of need."
He gave her a smile that made even his facial hair smile and give the girl a reason to giggle at the funny visual. She bowed and thanked Haru for his time and waved at him until she disappeared around the corner at the end of the street. Haru was accomplished and felt like setting up shop proper for now and kept business going for now. The oven was scrubbed clean in no time and the workstations were spotless in even less time when he was done with them. He wasn't planning on setting up shop around here but something told him he would appreciate the change of pace for today.
Four Hours Later
The foot traffic was surprisingly good since there was a bus station as well as a train station opposite to the neighborhood Haru was parked to and so quite a few people passed his stall. He figured that making something a bit cheaper and providing a drinking menu with affordable options was the best course of action. His stall was met with all sorts of booze hounds and working stiffs who loitered around even when he ran out of space for them to eat at. After the third hour the sun was well set and the amount of customers around his food truck began to peter down to a few people. Soon after that there was nobody around and Haru was just wiping down his workspace after hauling away bags of garbage to the nearby trash pickup for the trucks to sort through.
Light from the sunset was long gone since the claustrophobic urban planning blocked out the direct sunlight and left the streets below with less than five hours shining down from above. Haru was already set up with the extra heating lamps hooked up to his truck for those who were less fortunate in not finding seating nearby. His menu was fried seafood pancakes with homemade sauce and with the rush now over he was now preparing another batch of frying batter. The presence of a new person approaching his stall told him that this customer was looking for him from the start rather than being a random passerby. The knock on his wooden serving countertop was just the nail in the coffin for his suspicions as he kept himself busy with finishing up cleaning the griddle.
"Hello there? Are you still open by chance?"
Haru could tell as he turned and took in the man's appearance that this was the father of the young girl he sent home with the basket of bread. Ochako's father was a rather handsome looking man and based on what he saw Haru got all the info he needed from the young father of one.
"Ah, you must be Mr. Ochako! Gotta say, your little one is something of a saint with how quickly she decided to try and help me with my flat. I hope you enjoyed the bread I gave her for you and your wife…"
"... What? Wait, how did you-"
"Did you want anything? It must've been quite a day for you at work. I'll even give you the option of a tab."
Already there was too much information that Haru knew that the already slightly suspicious father was comfortable with. The man was already backing up slightly from the short exchange between him and Haru.
"Uh, I… How did…"
Haru gave the poor man his full attention after he wiped down the warm plate of metal he was cleaning with a damp cloth. Haru scratched at his own cheek sheepishly as he told the father how he obtained his knowledge.
"Oh, sorry. It's a bad habit of mine to notice more than I should. You and your daughter share the same shade of hazelnut in your eyes; it's pretty distinct so it was easy enough to tell. Also you have some light sunburning on your arms and at the base behind your neck…"
It was barely a moment that Haru looked at him and already that much was visible? The father of Ochako was far more impressed than he was put off. He was far too curious to see what else this guy could get off of him.
"...What else?"
"...Huh?"
Now Haru was confused about what was being said. Most people would find deductive reading invasive and even as Haru could tell that this man wasn't one to be offended by such a thing; this was a rather drastic shift of expectations.
"What else can you tell me about me?"
It was a fraction of a second for Haru to see that it was a genuine question and so he entertained the overly trusting father.
"... Your tan lines are for someone who does construction work. There's a tanline for a watch on your left wrist but you're not wearing one right now so you must only wear it for work related reasons."
Haru then gestured to the back of the father's neck.
"But that isn't all. The back of your neck has sun exposure that only a hard hat of some sort could make. It's only possible for someone to be standing for most of the time to get a line of sun exposure than thin. You don't kneel or bend over a lot so you must be on your feet a lot. Your hands are also tanned so no gloves either. With all of that there's a few answers but one obvious one. Contractor or supervisor."
It honestly was a bit of a shot in the dark for Haru since he wasn't really trying to win the guessing game. He just wanted to start a conversation with the man and it seems he piqued the man's interest at a more fundamental level. Looking back at the adult, the look in his eyes was quite similar to his daughters as Haru could feel more questions coming his direction. He had the foresight to retrieve two beers to get both him and Ochako's father started on a friendly chat between strangers. Seriously, by far the oddest start of a conversation that Haru has had so far during his time in Japan.
Two Hours Later
Ochaco was scribbling in her coloring book with a red crayon in an icepick grip. The poor tomato she was filling in was bleeding out all over the page and even overlapped the cucumber and carrot right next to the visually succulent fruit. She was seated at the living room coffee table and was enjoying her idle coloring of various produce in her coloring book. The living room wasn't a very large room in comparison to the rest of the small rental unit her family was set up in. It was all compact and in the kitchen her mother was starting on preparing dinner for the whole family.
Ochaco returned with the baskets of bread and in her excitement didn't catch her mothers looks of concern as the child excitedly shoved the decadent pastry onto her mother. Her mother put the bag of extra desserts onto the dinner table and told her daughter to go and play until her father came home. Her response was to do just as her mother asked and began playing around the house until her father came home. When he came home he gave his usual greetings of kisses on Ochaco's cheeks and kisses to her mom that were much more gross in her opinion. Her mother then disclosed her concern for the mysterious person who donated all the pastries their daughter came home with and as a good husband and father he was right back out the door to go and confront this stranger who was rather friendly with their underaged daughter.
Hours later and Ochaco was now just scribbling in her coloring book and her mother was in the middle of finishing up dinner for the family. It was mildly worrying for her husband to be out close to dark and without a word up till now. She was close to going out herself and searching for her missing spouse when a knock at the front door alerted both her and her daughter of a visitor. Ochaco was always the dutiful daughter so she eagerly answered the call of duty.
"I'll get it!"
Up like a shot and towards the door; Ochaco's mother was drying her hands off on her apron when she heard her daughter recognize their visitor.
"Nakamura-san! Why are you here?"
The name of the stranger who fed her daughter out of charity and little other evidence that wasn't immediately obvious? She rushed to the door to the sight of something that was equally ridiculous and reassuring that this Nakamura wasn't actually anyone dangerous.
"Heya kiddo! Yeah, your old man and I had a bit of a good time and I think he needs a bit of a nap."
Haru was certain that the man draped over his left shoulder was well beneath his usual tolerance levels since it was obvious to him that he couldn't afford to drink or go out too often due to what were likely financial reasons. Ochaco was dressed in a mishmash of different different wear but was layered enough for the weather to be of no major concern for her health. This alone was enough for Haru to see that the family the little girl came from was struggling financially. He had distracted the young Ochaco from a price tag for the pastries he gave her and the father was too far gone for any memory of a tab to be retained by him.
"Honey! Oh my goodness, what happened?"
The father's spouse quickly helped Haru get the man inside and assisted in carrying the limping man towards the bedroom as her husband was now snoring and completely out.
"He made his ancestors proud! Although right now I think he might need to sleep off all he did to make them proud of him in the first place."
They both managed to get the drunk father onto the bed and remove his socks so that he was comfortable enough while he slept. Ochaco was looking on in interest as her dad was carried like an injured soldier from god knows what and thrown onto the bed her parent's slept on. Haru and her mother exited the bedroom and her mother was definitely the one worse for wear of the two of them.
"Um, uh; thank you… I, uh… I'm sure my husband was rather eager to spend his-"
"Oh, don't worry; it's on the house. I can't out of good conscience charge a man who works as hard as he does to support his family one night of drinking, can I?"
The mother was rather taken aback by this stranger's generosity over what she was sure was over thirty five thousand yen. She tried to get a bearing on this mystery man and still she was met with more generosity.
'I'm sure that someone who understands the value of money wouldn't just brush off a transaction like that. Seriously, what does my husband owe you?"
"He owes me another night of good conversation and company. Seriously, it's no skin off my back. I won't charge him for tonight and that's final."
The matriarch of the family still couldn't make sense of this stranger that now has charmed her husband. Why was he so quick to befriend the rest of her family? What did he want from them? Her husband may have been far too trusting but she won't be so susceptible. She would be damned before inviting such a man into… her… own… home… huh…
"Oh, veggie and tofu soup? I gotta say it is such an understated dish and I for one am not one to let such a dish go bland."
Haru picked up the scent of the dinner Ochaco's mother had started on and was quick to talk shop on budget cooking that was still delicious in no time. The mother at first wanted to get Haru out sooner than later but was cut off with a tip that he hinted at that was cost effective and rather effective to elevate the flavor for other similar dishes. Haru couldn't escape if he wanted to as now he piqued the mother's interest and so with a short trip back down to his van he brought back some ingredients to show the housewife some secrets of the trade as Haru adjusted the recipe with budget ingredients that indeed made the dinner far more palatable than some restaurants that boasted similar dishes on their own menus.
Ochaco was just in for the ride as a new friend she made that day not only made friends with her dad but now her mom was less than willing to let him leave their house as he kept talking about things that made food tasty for her family. Je even stayed for dinner and didn't leave until after Ochaco went to sleep later that evening. The woman couldn't get the same quality of conversation from her regular everyday friends if she tried. The information compendium that Haru was just provided to be too useful for the mother to let go into the winds for now.
Haru was back in his van and on his way home after weeks of being on the road for the first time and couldn't help but feel slightly used by the young Ochaco's family after everything. Right now nothing sounded better than a shower and his own bed.
Three Years Later
The Ochako household was still the same anomalous enigma for Haru as he still did what he could to keep his arms length away from the family. Either one of several reasons; perhaps it was some sense of societal obligation towards their daughter that he had a habit of being protective of whenever he was out and about in the area. Or maybe that it was simply Haru was far too nurturing for his own good to actually justify alienating the endearing family. The years were good to them and despite a rather pregnant absence for a few months he was always certainly there to socialize and entertain the Ochaco household.
"You want them?"
Haru was brandishing three tickets to a luxury cruise for the family and to the father's shock he was still unable to process the three slips of paper that were representative of close to two thousand dollars each. The family was spending their Sunday at a local park and the women of the family were spending time bonding over near the swings. Uraraka's father was looking at the tickets for the luxury cruise like he was looking at Haru's second hand… If it had sprouted out of the same spot then and there.
Being frugal was by no means a negative character trait; but by god this family certainly pushed the boundaries on that sentiment when it came to things that seemed to be too good to be true.
"I'm not fond of ocean travel and I have two more tickets than I need. Unless..."
The gears were turning in the head of the father of the family playing nearby at the neighborhood park. There was enough knowledge about the family's tendencies for Haru to guess what the man was thinking.
"Yeah, these are attendance tickets. You can't resell them."
"... Whaaat? No! I would never! Ha! I wouldn't be so shallow as to-"
Yeah, he's done this enough to know where this is going.
"Yeah, so anyways it's three or nothing. Your family could use the r and r; so whaddya say?"
The father was shut down and forced to accept another act of charity from Haru. Before it was usually just a forgotten tab or a side job that his daughter wanted to work with Haru over the summer break. The money that Haru would donate to the family was always far too much compensation for a little girl helping out a grown man in a kitchen of any caliber. Haru would always justify that their daughter worked beyond her limits to provide for her family and that they could at least save the money for her sake if they felt it too generous of an amount.
Now it was a fully compensated and accommodated family vacation in tropical weather for nothing and it was getting harder for the patriarch of this family to justify turning down the gift. If he said no then the tickets couldn't be spent by Haru since he was a single man with no kids. It seemed rather inappropriate for him to send Haru with his wife and daughter without him and for this exact reason Haru knew the father couldn't refuse out of good will.
"... I mean, it just seems to be a bit much… For what it is, it's just a bit… I mean… Would you?..."
That was the moment of weakness Haru was waiting for as he thrust the tickets into the man's hand.
"You work way too hard to simply provide for your family. Take some time for them and yourself to make some memories. It's the least you can do for your family."
The father could only look back at his beautiful wife and daughter enjoying another day out at the park and feel that this was something that we had no right to turn down.
"... Damn, you're good."
Haru just gave the family man a cheeky grin and donated the tickets to Ochaco's dad for him to do as he pleased. That evening he made the announcement and with little resistance the trio were getting ready for exciting days on the sea and exhilarating memories to be made amongst them.
Three Weeks Later
"Okay, Ochaco. Do you have everything you need?"
Ochaco's mother knelt in front of the girl who was saluting in a sundress and sunglasses at the question she was just asked.
"Yes mom!"
"Are you sure? What about your stuffed animal?"
The young girl realized her short sightedness in her excitement for a vacation and took a short moment to double check her room and indeed saw that out of the three stuffed animals she owned the one she favored and cuddled with in her sleep was still in its place at the head of her bed. It was quick but her mother still thought that her daughter's need for her little furry plush was still endearing. The father was still talking with Haru over basic rules and any other accommodations he could provide for the volunteer house sitter.
"... Are you sure I can't do anything else for ya? It's a lot to do for free; if I could just…"
"Just go and have fun already. I'm not hurting for compensation and I'm sure you're busting at the seams to get going. The taxis downstairs and I'm sure the meter's running; so go before you cost me more than just a courtesy ride."
This was enough to get the whole family out and down to the ground floor to get inside the taxi for their cruise. Haru looked over the balcony and waved to the family driving away as the mother and daughter kept waving from the rear window of the taxi until they disappeared into the distance. Alone at last. The family were going out for about a month and so there were some things they had at home that required some basic care while they let loose and enjoyed a full on vacation. Haru was stuck indoors for what it was worth so for now he got to work on some messages and emails regarding some work that was in need of his attention.
Two Days Later
A rather particular duo that Ochaco was fond of and kept in her room in a rather large aquarium was an eel and pufferfish that she had rescued from a fish vendor she and Haru had visited about two years ago during a summer where Ochaco wanted to work and provide for her families needs. A wholesome old couple who were Haru's suppliers had taken to the young girl like fire to fuel and had been more than eager to entertain the child as Haru paid a visit to his other vendors in the same fish market. The wife of the fishmonger had a unique quirk to command fish with a unique light that she emitted from her fingernails and used that same quirk to domesticate and give ownership of a pufferfish and salt water eel to the excited Ochaco.
Two years later these two were still kicking and living in a large fish tank Haru provided for the hopeful young girl. He fibbed about the price of the tank and told the parents that it was barely worth mentioning since the store owner was going to throw out the large glass tank out had he not interfered. That was nothing more but a massive lie. He had purchased the tank when he returned and saw Ochaco so attached to the two rather ugly specimens of aquatic life. He didn't have the heart to say no to the girl since she already turned down so much already from Haru on such a frequent occasion. No child in his mind should have been as mindful of pricing over just accepting gifts in Haru's mind. Overall the cost of the whole setup of Ochaco's aquarium habitat was closer to two hundred and eighty five thousand yen than the two thousand yen price tag he lied about.
"... Gotta say, you two better know how grateful you should be for her weird sense of what's cute."
The bottle of fish food was emptied into the opened top of the sizable tank in Ochaco's room. Haru was just thinking out loud as he fed the rather odd duo Ochaco cared for in her bedroom. These two were close to becoming someones very expensive dinner hadn't it been for the little girl running into them and playing around with them for two hours that fateful day. She gave Haru such large doe eyes and told him of the fish's fate of being eaten and dying to try and convince him to let her keep the rather ugly fish. Thousands of yen secretly spent and the cheerful grin she had the rest of the trip made it almost worth it… Almost…
The fish were fed and with a quick pH test that Ochaco was surprisingly diligent with he confirmed that saline was ideal for the two unlikely pairs of fish living in the large tank. The lid over the tank was returned to its rightful place before Haru returned to the living room where his personal laptop sat on the coffee table where he had been sitting for the past two days just getting his work done in silence. The housework was painless as the house was just as immaculate as it's been since Haru began overcompensating the cleanliness of the apartment unit the Ochacos resided in. The seamless plate of obsidian was opened and with it a display came to life with a window opened to Haru's personal work inbox and the thousands of files attached to them. He activated a function that opened and compiled the information in the emails he received. With that done; a chart with all data he requested from those under his employment compiled itself and soon after checking the data he began his work.
Hours went by and out of his stupor Haru's phone went off. After unlocking the smart device he saw a text from Ochaco asking about her precious aquatic cuties. The eel was named Shio and the pufferfish was named Ninjin. Shio was dark brown and because of that Ochaco thought he looked like shio ramen soup; funny enough Ninjin had an orange discoloration on it's back that looked like a carrot and so his name was such. Honestly the main reason these two were so docile and healthy was because of the fish monger's wife. Her powers of control over fish were not limited to being temporary and so Shio and Ninjin were assigned the simple task to live long and stress free for Ochaco's sake. Her usual request to be sent a picture of her two precious boy's came in and without skipping a beat Haru went and took a new picture of the two fish in question to send the little girl and put her mind at ease until tomorrow. Haru had just sent the pictures when a knock came in at the door.
He assumed nothing as he opened the front and instantly could recognize what greeted him at the door. A shorter man dressed in an ill-fitting suit and two larger gentlemen over each of his shoulders in different states of dress was far too much of a stereotype that door-to-door loan sharks fit into. In a startling display of confidence Haru not only responded but opened the door fully and leaned against the frame of the door.
"Can I help you?"
"...Yes, in fact you can! My name is Kento and I am an entrepreneur seeking to help those who seek to invest in their future and who hope to leave such destitute environments such as this. I see that perhaps you may be in need of my services."
A bottom feeding loan shark like this was no better that some of the other disgustingly depraved life forms he was already accustomed to. What made this visit an unpleasant surprise was the existence of his presence in front of Haru. He was definitely going to lay into those who let this vermin crawl all over this city and do what they pleased.
"Yeah, not interested. Word of advice, you should probably fuck off and disappear if you know what's good for you."
Haru was closing the door when a foot caught itself in the doorway and kept the door from shutting all the way.
"Aha, I see. I couldn't help but here you say that I should be leaving my place of business for my own good. Why, pray tell, should I-"
His usual tactic of being invasive and intimidating the household fell just short as right when he looked back up at Haru he didn't see the eyes of someone vulnerable or open to coercion like the other homes he had approached. Someone who wanted to protect their home or their family would have some kind of fear in their eyes; with that fear he could exploit that vulnerability and assert his dominance. In Haru's eyes he saw none of that vulnerability. Coming to a person's home was the easiest way to break a person's shell no matter how tough they thought they were. Nobody was more vulnerable than they were at home.
Haru took two steps towards the loan shark and for every step the lanky little man tried to keep his distance.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. Please…"
He leaned in over the scrawny crook's left shoulder and whispered.
"...Continue."
Intimidation was about exploiting vulnerabilities and this man was pressing into his own. He and his muscle came to people's homes to push and press into vulnerable citizens who had no concept of dangerous people. This part of the neighborhood was still virgin to his presence and from what he could scope out from the past few days there was little presence of heroes or police for his activities to be cut short. He was still new to the practice and with the recent profit he pulled from his last few scores he was able to expand and even hire tweedle dee and tweedle dum who were still hanging back from their boss being intimidated out of his own intimidation tactic. One was a hulking man who could rip apart rockas with his fist and eat any sort of hardened material like concrete and iron rebar. The other was just as large but had his sleeves rolled up to reveal rocket thrusters on his elbows. Needless to say he could punch things harder than most. The skinny man's back was pushed up against the solid barrier keeping him from falling over to the ground level and was feeling claustrophobic in front of Haru.
"Uh, yeah… I think we got off on the wrong foot here, heh."
Haru stood up straight and now standing straight he stood a head above the lankier man. A strong look of annoyance was very visible on his face; through the thick facial hair even.
"... Leave. I catch you here again; thing one and two over there are gonna be force fed your entrails. Understood?"
Haru just nodded his head over to the two still just looking dumbfounded by the gall Haru had to just tell their boss off like he did. He didn't even wait for a response as he just turned back around and slammed the door in their face. It took a moment to return to the present for the pseudo boss and turn to his lackeys in sheer anger.
"Where the fuck were you two doing there?! Why didn't you do anything there? Are you two even stupider than you look?"
The two of them flinched a bit and for what it was worth they did indeed just stand there as their employer was being physically intimidated. Any other time they would have intervened; unknown to them they didn't react because their bodies refused to get any closer than they already were. They were scratching their heads at their inaction as they went back downstairs to the car they came in. Their boss was still berating them the whole way down and they could only take it as they really couldn't explain to him why it was they just blanked out. Spiders are known to be predatory in their category of creepy crawlies and kill regularly to get their next meal. Unknown to most they possess more intelligence than most people realize.
Many years ago an experiment conducted by some entomologists and a couple of spiders of different breeds were all put into a white space with different inanimate objects of different sizes. They were placed opposite to the spiders with a visual blocker keeping the mystery item hidden until they lifted the divider. All the spiders reacted relatively the same as they either met the mysterious item that was contained inside alongside them with indifference or curiosity. There was only one object that got the spiders to react far differently than the other objects they experimented with. Out of the dozens of toys and random knick knacks; there was one plastic spider that was much larger than any of the specimens they had at their disposal. None of the arachnids approached the plastic toy at any point and all of them kept as much distance between themselves and the fake spider. At no point did the plastic model of a spider move or react, but the specimens were all unwilling to go near it despite soft coersions and rewards of food by the researchers. They saw a threat and were so driven by their instincts to treat it as such no matter what other evidence that told them otherwise.
This phenomenon was the best comparison to make with what had happened with the two men and Haru. They just couldn't recognize that their instincts unknown to them forced them to stay put away from the thing that was obviously far bigger and more dangerous than they were. The logical part of their minds couldn't comprehend that a man who was easily a third of either of their weight could be so imposing that it would cause them to instinctively back off for survival reasons. They got into the front seats and their boss was in the back seat shortly after with a mood that would make spoiled children look like saints. They returned to their offices and got to work on what they should do from this point on. Nobody had to say anything since the decision to do something about Haru was likely the next course of action.
This encounter with a wannabe criminal loan shark was a surprise for Haru to say the least. Not as something that frightened or worried him; it was just something that he saw as the results of someone's negligence. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number that was picked up in the first dial tone.
"Naoko Supplies and Storage, how can I assist you today in your storage space needs?"
"I need to talk to the district supervisor in charge of the prefecture I'm in."
"Right away, sir."
The call went to hold for a few moments and in that time Haru sat at his laptop and used the custom function between the devices to set up the call on his laptop. He set up a feed from the built-in camera and sat on the couch in front of the viewfinder. Regardless if the call was going to a compatible device or a desk phone he was going to show as best he could his displeasure over the mistake this person he was contacting made. He sat at the couch for roughly fifteen seconds before a live feed of another person dressed in a police uniform and sitting in an office with fine furnishing answered his call.
"Mr. Nakamura! What do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
"You don't owe anything since this is far from a pleasurable experience for me."
The gentleman on the opposite end was visibly nervous and scared for his life as he spoke with his words carefully chosen.
"U-um, I'm sorry to hear. How can I h-help?"
His voice caught repeatedly from his stuttering and he internally cussed himself out for the display of weakness.
"Do you want to take a guess as to what I ran into today? Go ahead, I'll wait."
"U-uh, I- uh… If it was… I mean… I-if it's-"
"I ran into a couple of gentlemen claiming to be door-to-door entrepreneurs seeking to expand and help me profit by helping me invest in my future! I wonder who would have given such a well meaning gentleman the means to start such a lucrative venture, I wonder…"
The sarcasm wasn't lost on the uniformed law representative and with his best effort he tried to defend himself. Haru was texting as he spoke and moving around files he was receiving on his mobile.
"Sir, I guarantee you that with everything I have committed so far to this operation I had no idea that-"
"Oh, so now it's appropriate to swear on the validity of your word. Thank goodness, I mean if you hadn't then up till now I would have thought that you were just being disingenuous. I mean, that isn't actually the case…"
Haru looked right into the camera and stared down the sweating verbal punching bag.
"Is it?"
"N-n-no! I never- I mean- I didn't think-"
"That you were already caught. Whatever you have to say next, just don't say it."
Haru flicked the screen on his phone up and opened files onto the other party's computer to show paperwork for a new foreign sports car and renovation disclosed for a new pool to be built. The one who was receiving the third degree was now terrified about where this conversation could lead.
"So I was wondering why last month's reports were coming in like they used to be before I came back; this is by far the most insulting thing I've seen from you. What on earth possessed you to think I would slip up in checking for obvious tells of embezzling?"
"... I-I… I… I-"
"Shut the fuck up. You're the first to slip up so consider this the LAST courtesy I give everyone. Understood?"
The one soaking his collar with cold sweat was only able to keep his eyes glued to his desk as he only could manage a slow nod yes. Haru marched on with his call.
"I need another compilation of reports from the other prefectures; UPDATED, mind you. Tell them all to send in their reports to me before the end of the work day or I'll have to speak to them personally. One last thing…"
He leaned forward on the couch and inside the other person's office he could feel the air become so thick it was physically painful to breathe.
"Spread the word that it ends here. I had higher expectations than none; and all you've proven was my need to keep all of you in line. A child could do your job and manage to piss me off less in a lifetime than you would manage in a day. Fucking useless."
With that last bit of scathing verbal bile Haru hung up the call. The man was now able to breathe and the first thing he did as the call dropped was to loosen his tie to help him take in more fresh air. He took a few minutes to try and calm his heart down and stop the still running cold sweat running down the back of his neck. It took some time but just as he collected himself his secretary entered to inform him of a meeting time changing to friday of that week.
"Commissioner, your meeting with the city councilman has been moved to-"
"Not now!"
There was barely a moment to himself and he snapped after being startled by his personal assistant coming in unannounced. She was startled and jumped at the sudden harsh treatment he threw in her direction. He hadn't made it a recurring theme to being abusive and this was the first time she was yelled at so harshly. The commissioner saw the errors of his ways and was quick to correct his act of brashness.
"I-I'm so sorry. I just got torn apart and now I'm stuck with even more work…"
His assistant took a moment to take things in and cleared her throat. She resumed her previous message to the commissioner she was charged with.
"Yes, um… The councilman has rescheduled to this Friday at one and requested an accomodation to the time slot."
"Yes, yes; that's fine. Is there anything I have scheduled for the rest of today?"
The assistant scrolled through his calendar and saw two or three tasks designated for later today.
"You have a meeting with the public affairs department in about forty-three minutes; also the press had questions in regards to the c-"
"Cancel them all. I need to get some rather critical work done before the end of today and I don't have time for everything else. That'll be all."
Well if she wasn't shocked then she certainly shocked now. The murder case he was due to address with the press was an important agenda by his words; what work came in that would cause him to do a complete one-eighty and just brush off the press sonference like it wasn't even worth his attention?
"... B-bu-"
"That'll be all."
Arguing seemed to be a rather fruitless venture with how intently he was already typing away at his keyboard and dismissing her to focus on his new work.
"...Yes sir."
She bowed respectfully and backed out of the office she took four steps into. The commissioner barely registered her absence as he was still sending out critical information to the other commissioners in Japan. Everyone who received the information responded to the instructions without fail and some who were even growing complacent realized that doing just that would have probably meant a far more dire consequence. Another ripple in the pool that had begun to grow stagnant and already the currents were threatening to rip up boulders from the earth underneath the water itself.
Haru was receiving information once again and with the reports coming in he mocked up and sent out instructions to the necessary people to get things back in order. All the information he had requested took less than twenty minutes to receive from everyone he wanted them from. Haru had more tasks he wanted done before he was abruptly cut off. It took him an additional hour past his intended finishing time of six and by then he just wanted to get a few drinks in him before he went to sleep. He had stocked the fridge with his beverage of choice so with the assistance of a dozen or so beers and cigarettes to even his buzz out he enjoyed what was left of his night before falling asleep on the couch.
Five Days Later
There was an improvement for quality of life in this part of the city as now Haru could see more officers making their rounds and more people being confident enough to be out and about more regularly with the public security looking better for them to have their guard down. Haru was smoking outside leaning on the concrete balcony leading down to the ground floor. He refused to smoke in the apartment regardless if he was able to remove the scent before the Ochaco family returned. It was the principle of it more than the practicality and he was sure about his choices. He had just cleaned and fed the fish Ochaco had in her room and right after completing the tedious work he sent another picture to the oddball of a child, her precious bug eyed fish. He hadn't gotten a text from the little girl in two days but he mostly chalked it up to how diligent and consistent he was with promises. He could take a gander and see that the texts were still being received by the girl and seeing her little aquatic friends being safe at home helped her get to sleep at the end of the day. Still, it was late and he saw he was pretty much done with his pack of smokes and wanted more after his planned drinking in a bit. Seeing no other real choice he voted to leave for a bit to get more from the convenience store down the street.
He was already down the street in leather sandals and basketball shorts showing off his legs from the knee's down and a white crew cut tee. He wasn't concerned about being presentable and it was nothing more than a short visit. As he was leaving a car from some familiar individuals returned and parked around the corner nearby. There wasn't a patrol visible to them so they assumed they were safe parking here for now. The two large men from last week were in the same seats they drove away in and now were wearing black clothing and stocking's pulled over their heads and the bunched up part sitting as a band around their foreheads. In the back the same skinny leading figure of the trio was dressed similarly except instead of a stocking it was a balaclava on his head. The way the material yanked at his lashes he found to be too much for him.
"Alright, we go in and beat that fuck within an inch of his life and fuck up whatever else is in the place. In, out; done. Any questions?"
One of the two in front spoke his grievance with the plan.
"So we're not stealing anything? Can't we at least case the place for cash or somethin?"
The boss of the group resisted his urge to roll his eyes as he elaborated on information he was sure they would pick up on from their patrols of the area leading up to this whack job.
"No! Police and heroes started patrolling here since last we were here; so all we can do for now is at least teach this motherfucker a lesson in manners. Now, any other questions?"
No other questions came up much to his pleasure.
"Alright, let's get this shit done!"
They all yanked their masks down and once the coast was clear they all got out and went right for the apartment that Haru met them in front of that fateful day. Unbeknownst to them there was indeed a patrol car placed behind some of the buildings the trio had parked next to and as they were charged with staking out for any potential threats to the home Haru resided in they saw the men pull up and saw them go right for the unit Haru was personally babysitting for. The three officer's inside of the patrol car were lounging and the one on shift to watch alerted his other patrolmen to the suspicious activity. They were all on the payroll and were fully aware of the importance of their assigned task. Once they confirmed they were indeed going into the apartment complex wielding nothing but crude masks to hide their identities they called the number they were told to contact in case of suspicious activities involving the apartment complex Haru was caretaking for. The highest ranking officer in the car dialed the number and awaited the response that would instruct them further.
At the Convenience Store
"Ah, Haru! Gotta say it's good to see one person going more white than me!"
"Ha ha, very funny. You guys stocked up?"
The senior individual behind the counter pointed a wrinkled finger in the direction of the back fridges that had Haru's preferred brand of beer. He was able to grab two cases of the cold brew and brought it up to the front for the almost elderly employee to scan and process for his purchase. The older gentleman still had half his remaining hair left and just as much of a ratio of black and white hair to hair he once had and has. The aesthetic was unbecoming for the balding older looking man and Haru decided against saying anything to the senior out of courtesy.
"Alright, that'll be fifty-four hundred yen."
Haru was pulling out the cash and was already passing the cash to the senior when he got a call. He pocketed the pack of cigarettes already on the counter pulled by the old man who knew of Haru's preferences. The money was being processed and with his hands free he answered the phone ringing in his pocket.
"This is him… When?... I'll be there in a bit."
Haru hung up just in time for his change to be returned to him. He took the loose bills and asked the register for a favor to have his goods held onto for a bit while he took care of a personal agenda for a moment. The old gentleman gave Haru the go ahead and Haru was out the door after returning the two cases he had pulled from the store refrigerators.
Back as the Patrol Car
The leading officer hung up and put the cell back into his uniform pants as the youngest officer kept giving status updates on the masked trespassers.
"...Okay they're in. They all went inside and they're keeping the interior lights off as of right now…"
"Alright, all we have to do is just wait until he comes to talk to us."
The officer in the front passenger seat just looked over with a look of incredulity before asking his question.
"... So just who the hell is he?"
The question rolled out just as a knock on his window made all the officers in the car jump at the interruption. The window was rolled down and there in front of all of them was the legend of their organization… And he looked unemployed. Handsome and distinguished, but unemployed.
"What's been the observed actions so far?"
The senior officer didn't skip a beat in responding to Haru.
"So far infiltration and intent of harm seems to be all there is to it so far. They have yet to have resurfaced so they are likely engaged in acts of vandalism as of now."
Haru peered over the police car and gave his next bit of instruction to the officers without peering back down.
"Contact the head office and get an extraction team here as well as a sanitation group. Hold until I'm done and get the leads to contact me before they leave."
An explanation was not given as to what Haru wanted and out of the three officers posted to that stakeout only the senior member knew what all of that meant. The officer next to the older officer tapped his shoulder and shot a look of confusion over what was to happen next. The oldest officer just smirked and hinted at what was to come next.
"Just watch. You're about to see the world's best disappearing act."
Inside the Ochaco Household
Broken dishes and smashed furniture littered the floors of the moderately furnished low income unit. The three intruders didn't see Haru inside when they forced the door in so in the dark they began doing the next best thing and smashing the place to bits. It was showering bits of smashed cheap furniture and discount glassware. The boss was in the back of the unit making short work of the kitchen and rendering every intact piece of cutlery and dishware obsolete with the wooden bat he had brought along with him. The second good was shoveling the remains of the living room into his open jaw and eating the pummeled remains of the couch. Inside the child's bedroom the last member was using his hardened fists to smash the whole place into bits. He finished turning the desk into shards and the bedframe was in splinters underneath the torn and bent remains of the bedframe and mattress. The satisfaction he got from fucking up a house was still rather low since this family seemed to be rather lacking in terms of the ownership of basic shit department. He had already ripped apart and demolished the parents room just now and not even that was enough for his fists. The other notable piece of breakable shit in the room was the aquarium. He saved it for last and now it was time for him to cash in this bit of delicate furnishing.
Shio and Ninjin were granted some intelligence from a while ago and they saw from inside their home a scary and violent animal destroy their master's bedroom. They wanted to do something to stop this horrible thing from destroying the room they had always looked upon. Their precious master that always talked to them and fed them. The master they cherished with the little sentience they had. Lacking the ability to communicate and speak had no impact on their pain in seeing something they cherished being destroyed in front of them. Now the giant was looking right at them and the warped vision they had of him through the tank made him look just as surreal and ugly he really was on the inside. The thing he was using to break everything else was being lifted and with no power to stop him they could see their end coming soon. Their only regret was being deprived of more time with their precious little master.
He was finally able to smash the aquarium open after abstaining for so long. He was charging his jets at the elbow and with a right cross strong enough to punch through concrete he let loose on what he thought were unsuspecting and stupid fish. The sounds of broken glass and liters of water flooding the cheap floorboards never came as he began to notice his blow to the glass box filled with water was delaying itself for quite some time. The propulsion driving his fists was still active and looking over his right shoulder he saw something he thought wasn't possible. Just before his fist could pick up any real momentum Haru caught the arm swinging for the aquarium in the crook of his own arm.
"... Yeah, you crossed the line; faggot."
The insult was still sinking in as the henchman was decked with one of Haru's own punches right in between his eyes. It all went black and catching the limp body Haru shifted the lackey over his shoulders. He took one last look at the two bug-eyed fish in the still intact water tank and couldn't help but feel a bit relieved he made it in time to save the two innocent lives Ochaco cherished as her pets and friends.
"Don't worry, I'll wrap this up in a second."
Haru felt renewed in his efforts to get these intruders out and into the hands of those who will take care of the aftermath. Just as silently as he came in he left the bedroom and dumped the unconscious body he had for the clean-up he called for. Now there were two.
The other two members of the small operation were pretty much done rendering the place into nothing more than pounded debris and scrap dust. The hench in the living room was almost done with sucking down the last of the dinner table when he wanted to ask his boss something.
"Hey boss, do you thi-"
The leader of the group still had an open ear as he was beating the portable oven into a lumpy heap of scrap metal. The words of his underling did in fact reach him but were cut off suddenly; leaving the employer of the gluttonous quirked bodyguard waiting for the other half of his underling's question. He thought nothing of it for a moment and just kept smashing away at the remaining cabinets and eventually he realized that it was too quiet outside the kitchen. He paused and shouted for his employees.
"Hey, you better not be slacking off or I swear I'll fuck you all u-"
He turned the corner out of the kitchen only to be greeted by a familiar sight with none of his men present.
"Sorry, did I cut you off again?"
In front of the leader of the now mostly absent loan sharking business was the one that motivated this whole state of affairs. The leader of the less-than-legitimate business was shocked to see the very man who had paid him insult a few days ago stand barefoot on the copious amounts of offensive and sharp shrapnel carpeting the hardwood surface of the apartment unit. It was so surreal to see that the loan shark questioned if this was all just a dream going bad now that Haru was here.
"I gotta say; if this had been some other place I happened to be that I didn't give a shit about, then I'm certain that all of this would have been just swept under the rug."
Haru took one step after another and still it was like the floor wasn't covered in jagged pieces of glass, metal, and wood.
"... But right now I gotta say I'm a bit fucked off. I've had enough stress dealing with things on my end and I certainly don't need you adding to that."
He got closer and closer to the confused and thrown off loan shark who was now just trying to figure out where his overpaid labor ran off to.
"I almost feel sorry for you. Right now I gotta say I just couldn't give a shit. So if you could just let my people do whatever they need to do to make you disappear I would appreciate it."
The skinny man couldn't react as a blow to the side of his chin rendered him unconscious and with that Haru dragged out the limp thing outside where right outside the door the other two bodyguards he snuck out of the apartment were lying unconscious. He dumped the last one of the three down when a massive line of uniformed men and women came marching up in all black and saluted Haru. The line bent around the corner sand so he could guess well over fifty people showed for the cleanup job he requested. Up past the stairs and down the middle he could see the team lead approach him and kneel once he was close enough.
"Nakamura-san. I apologize for not arriving earlier. What is it you desire from us?"
"Get these three out of my sight and in disposal. Also, is the sanitation ready?"
The leader of the team still saluting to Haru's honor was middle aged and dressed in all black to reflect his leadership of those he was charged with leading.
"Yes sir! They are downstairs awaiting confirmation to move in as we speak."
"... Good. All I would ask is that you be straightforward with these three. I'm rather tired of all the semantics; so just get someone who can deliver on a beating."
"You honor me with your request. It shall be done as necessary to hopefully come to your expectation."
With a snap of his fingers the leader of the group of combat-ready operatives ordered the first six up ahead to haul away the unconscious bodies for their disposal later that night. Haru pulled out the fresh pack of smokes he got from the convenience store and yanked the plastic off; only to toss it to the floor to his right. He tapped the pack down and pinched the first stick in his lips as he lit up and pulled deep for his first drag of the pack. The last one to leave the stairwell sent in the first of the sanitation crew.
One after another people dressed in all white with sanitation equipment began filing into the destroyed apartment and the team lead who was masked underneath heavy hazmat gear was the first point of contact he had for their assigned tasks.
"Sir, we have an understanding that you wish the unit to be restored to its original state. Was there anything we could provide in supplement to that request?"
"... No, restore the unit to its original state and nothing less. If you can just leave a hint of new smells on the sheets and furnishings. Other than that duplicate and clean as you usually do."
The masked individual who approached Haru just bowed again and began directing the cleaning crew who were already sweeping and removing the destroyed debris. One after another vacuum bags of shattered wood, screws, and glass were tossed over the balcony and to the cleaners downstairs loading the garbage into a plain white semi trailer. Inside there were about a dozen or so people scurrying around with vacuums and mops prepping the interior of the apartment for the next phase of restoration. The cigarette was down to the filter so with a flick Haru tossed the butt to the floor where one of the cleaners downstairs picked it up and swept up the leftover ash as they disposed of the garbage.
He felt it necessary to double check that the rebuilding job was going as planned and so he weaved through the busy interior and indeed the team was working like clockwork with all of their individual tasks. An inspector was marking down areas on the floor and walls that were damaged with a unique pen so that they would patch up those sections after they were done cleaning. The apartment was now mostly empty and spotless of any leftover debris. The lead was speaking with his team and was pulling up a list of needed decorations and furniture they would have to replace. The truck below had a lab of sorts that allowed the sanitation crew to reconstruct broken materials in a 3d program as the garbage was being scanned before being compressed into more manageable sizes. Through this they can search out similar items online and the ones that aren't available for purchase they would just rebuild or alter something similar to look and feel the same as the object they need to replace. Haru tapped the shoulder of the lead and immediately the individual and the other two he was speaking to bowed to Haru.
"So what are we looking at?"
"A day or so, most likely less than that given what's here for us."
"... Stretch the timeline. I want this place to be taken care of; throw in a full inspection and anything from bad piping to vermin I want gone."
"Sir!"
"Sir!"
"Sir!"
In unison all three acknowledged Haru's request for more work to be done and with a turn of his heel the team leader updated his employees on the walkie and began preparing for the necessary work. Haru was kinda over the whole affair since had he just kept a more even temper over the matter these annoyances would have probably just left and stayed away due to the extra police activity he enforced in the neighborhood. Sometimes he cursed his temper with those who earned his ire at times. Just then his phone began notifying him of a video call request and looking down at the mobile he saw the father's number on the caller id. Haru snapped his fingers and the entire cleaning crew immediately froze and clicked their mics off. It was dead silent in a split second and with that Haru chose a nearby wall that was blank from the beginning and aligned himself so that the camera couldn't see anything else. He cleared his throat and unlocked the phone to answer the call. A moment for the connection to go through and the father dressed in a floral print button up short sleeve wearing sunglasses was coming through.
"Heeey, Nakamura-san! Good Morning, how are things back at home?"
"Pretty good so far! I made a bit of a mess by accident during dinner, but it's all going well."
"Dinner? Oh, right; time zones. I hope I didn't call you too late."
The dozen or so cleaners frozen where they stood didn't even dare to twitch in fear of making the floorboards creak. Haru was still just casually chatting as they just stood there waiting for the call to finish.
"Haha, no. It's only eleven and I tend to be up till two or three before I turn in."
"That's no good Nakamura-san. You might not be growing anymore but it's not healthy to be up so late so frequently."
"I know, it's a really bad habit and I should learn to break it soon. But looks like you and your family are really taking in the sights, huh?"
Behind the father Haru could see island mountains in the distance and the clear skies let the sun beam down and make the ocean look like liquid sapphire. Since it was roughly eleven pm where he was he could wager that it was about ten in the morning where the cruise ship was for the Ochacos.
"Yeah, the missus and I have had the greatest time just taking in the sights and having fun on this thing! There's so much to do here and it looks a bit exclusive considering there aren't as many people here as I thought there would be; not that I'm complaining though."
"Yeah, I may have forgotten to mention that the cruise you're on is reservation exclusive and that it only occupies a limited amount of passengers at a time. Sorry about that."
The father was a little put off on knowing that now. He removed the shades he was sporting and funny enough the slight tan lines around his eyes kinda undermined the slightly serious tone he he was enjoying his time there.
"Wait, Nakamura-san; how much were these tickets really?"
"They were a gift from the captain since he's a regular at my shop when I stop by the bay port he's stationed at. I didn't have any use for them since I'm a bit of a homebody so don't even think about it. Plus, house sitting is pretty much a dream vacation for me since I'm not constantly moving around for once. If anyone should be thanking anybody it should be me."
The dad still was skeptical over what this vacation was costing Haru but let the matter go for now.
"Also how many times do I have to remind you to call me Haru. We're well beyond a first name basis and it's rather awkward to keep hearing you being so formal with me."
"Heh, well I guess you could blame my parents for that…"
The conversation was filled with levity and they updated each other on happenings from where they were staying. On the cruise the family were still just trying out the multitude of different activities and restaurants serving them free of charge. The meals were decadent and plentiful and they all were indulging themselves whenever they went for a meal. There was even a tasting menu option for the adults and it was too far away in quality from the actual price tag of free they were enjoying it for. The entertainment shows had performers and musical talent flown in from around the world regularly by helicopter and it never felt bland to attend a show. The waterpark indoors as well as the massive deck space accommodating a luxury olympic sized pool was where they usually went for a nice day of outdoor relaxation or indoor fun. It was so grand and unlike anything the family thought was possible from a single luxury liner. It was almost overwhelming for them that they still had close to another three weeks of this freedom.
"Daddy, who are you talking to?"
"Ah! Hello there, my dear. Guess who's back home and taking care of your two little friends?"
"Haru-san! Can I talk to him? Pleasepleaseplease?"
A little girl in a sunhat and sundress with autumn colored flowers hopped on her dad's lap and her excited eyes sparkled at the sight of Haru's white beard.
"Heya, kiddo; are you having fun there? Are you listening to your parents?"
"Yesyesyes! It's so much fuuun! I saw dolphins yesterday, I played with some fishies today, I ate some yummy fish; your's tastes better, but it was still good!"
The compliment paid to his cooking skills made Haru feel rather warm for being preferred to Michelin quality chefs with access to the finest quality ingredients from around the world. The little girl kept rambling on and on about her experiences on the luxury liner for a bit and Haru just patiently listened to her rally her experiences to him. Meanwhile, for close to half an hour now every person inside the apartment was still holding their poses. It didn't matter if they were to be like this until they pass out from dehydration, they would still try and hold themselves up and remain silent through sheer fucking willpower if they had to. It wasn't all so bad hearing such endearing conversation as a mild form of entertainment but some of them were starting to cramp. Their commitment to silence was keeping them from moving since their suits can make a decent amount of sound when they moved around so this mannequin act was rather necessary for them to take. Downstairs there was a call from those downstairs asking what was taking so long for the inside team and the lead had to click the radio with two short and two long pauses in between each click of the radio. They got their answer and knew Haru was on a phone call and nobody could move while he made it.
"Oh oh, can I see Shi-Shi and Nin-Nin? I wanna make sure they don't miss me too much!"
"Come on Ura, Mr. Nakamura's tired; we should probably let him rest."
"No no, I still have another two or three hours till I gotta sleep; let's see how they are right now!"
Haru silently clicked his fingers and waved the cleaners between him and the little girl's room where the fish tank was. In a silent panic the employees had only enough time to just move and keep from colliding with him as Haru took the camera and aimed it up at the ceiling and under his chin. The ridiculous sight of all these trained and professional cleaners crab walking or scooting away bow legged to keep the sound of their suits shuffling against itself was rather comical. They all cleared out and managed to keep themselves from being revealed through the phone's audio. Haru entered the room and clicked the lights on and revealed the two cleaners who were stuck inside the room when Haru began making his call. He was very careful to play with the angles so that the family couldn't see the completely barren apartment filled with strange people in white hazmat suits. Best case scenario he could play it off as pest control. Worst case scenario they accuse him of theft and taking advantage of their kindness. Risk wasn't Haru's favorite concept so he was very much not going to reveal anything to them.
"Alright, here we are; and here they are."
He spun the camera away from the child's empty room and at the tank from the front right at the two curious gilled pets. Ochaco was giddy and waving at her precious cuties and using baby talk on them. They recognized her well enough and were rather curious why their master was tiny and in a flat box all of a sudden. Uraraka had her simple reunion and went on her way down the deck to go and play while her dad and Haru finished up the conversation.
"Gotta say, sometimes I feel like I play second fiddle to those little guys."
"Heh; well, never forget that you were the one who helped install the tank in her room from the very start."
They shared a good chuckle and from there they decided to end the call.
"I can't thank you enough, Nakamu- Haru. I truly owe you a great debt of gratitude."
"Don't. Charity is charity, not another form of self assigned debt. Just have a good time and make some good memories with your family."
With that they said their goodbyes and hung up the call. Once the disconnected alert chimed the cleaners let themselves go and began breathing a sigh of relief for their stiff joints and ability to start working again. Haru simply just approached one of the people who had a shoulder case strapped to their waist.
"You there."
"H-huh, me?"
A woman's voice responded startled to Haru's sudden presence out of nowhere.
"Did you make sure any and all photos were properly retrieved and ready for restoration?"
"Yes sir, I have them stored and preserved for transport! The damage to the photos isn't severe so we should have them back by the end of tomorrow."
Haru just nodded in approval and dismissed the cleaner to do just that. The next one he spoke to was the team lead with the tablet he had on his person being shown to Haru. On the device a list of objects and items that the lab downstairs had managed to uncover for the restoration. Haru swiped up and scanned the list and there didn't seem to be anything incorrect so it got his approval.
"I want another team back here early tomorrow morning to handle the inspections and repairs. I want them inconspicuous so make sure to prep cover id's and send me the information before they arrive."
The leader bowed to the request and began the final preparations for their departure for the night. They hauled the crushed remains of the kitchen appliances in pieces since they needed to make sure that they didn't damage the walls or floors while carrying out the broken kitchen equipment. Inspecting every surface for any sort of leftover debris or missed damage it looked perfect enough and so the team took all their supplies and headed back down to the truck for the next phase. They were gone and all that remained of their presence was the now empty apartment Haru was alone in. The fish needed to be fed and with one last task to do he retrieved the fish food and fed the rather mismatched duo of fish before turning all of the apartment lights and locking the door behind him. He had to sleep in his van tonight and so before returning to the vehicle he retrieved the cases of beer he had left back at the convenience store and sat on the back steps of his open food truck while knocking back can after can and enjoying the sight of the night sky. He played some American hip-hop on his phone and just enjoyed the peace of being alone and enjoying the night.
Later at an Undisclosed Location
The loan shark was slowly feeling the edges of consciousness returning to him and taking the few tentative steps towards the blurry sights and sounds he was violently shoved into being awake with a sudden douse of water thrown into his face. A significant amount of the water made its way up his nose and into his lungs so he was immediately sputtering and coughing to clear out his airways. He tried to reach for his nose to blow into his hand and it just wasn't happening. He opened his eyes and saw his hands were bound to the chair by what looked like nylon straps. He immediately tried to twist or yank his arms free and it dawned on him how well secured he was to the chair. The straps were pinning his arms flush against the arms of the steel chair he was bound to and a belt was keeping him from twisting around his hips or torso. His legs were no better as they were bound together and strapped to an extra leg that the chair had in the center to keep prisoner legs from moving around. He scanned around and all around him it was pitch plack with several spotlights on stands shining down on him.
He could just make out the silhouette of a man standing at a table that was set up in the middle of the two most centered light sources. The one who had used the bucket method of waking the prisoner was next to the mystery man and was whispering into his ear. The man dismissed the other one and finally the one who was fiddling with the objects on the table turned back and approached the loan shark. He stood far enough away for the disoriented man to just be able to see what he looked like.
He stood around five foot ten and was dressed in funeral wear; black suit and tie with a white shirt. The man was built like a swimmer and had a complexion that seemed to match. Skin tanned caramel and hair chopped short and spiked with product. He had thin eyes and a long face; a face that was just smirking at his prisoner rather unnervingly.
"W-who are you? Where am I? What the fuck do you want from me?"
The man just snapped the fingers on his right hand and someone from the shadows came up with a folding chair. It was a rather older looking folding chair completely made of metal that clanked and scraped the concrete floor as it was placed down for the unknown man. He removed his jacket and gave it to the one who came in with the chair. The underling took the coat with a bow and returned to the darkness behind the spotlights. The man was now just undoing his cuffs and pulled the loose fabric once up to his elbows and folded the part still halfway up his forearms once again and tucked the edges deeper into the folded part of the sleeves. He wasn't in any rush to address the loan shark and it was grinding at the nerves for the lowly criminal.
"Look, is it money? You want money? I can get you money! I don't know who you are or who that white haired fuck is, bu-"
His neck was suddenly caught in the grip of the stranger and as the amount of pressure was climbing the blood in his head felt like it was just ballooning his skull. Through the gagging and choking he looked up at the assaulter and unlike the cool and aloof expression from before there was a look of anger that made the eyelids go wider and reveal the black pits of his corneas.
"You speak down on that man one more time; I slice you down the center starting from your urethra, nod if you understand…"
The edges of his vision were starting to go and if he didn't respond he was gonna black out again. His head bobbed up and down slightly; feeling the pressure of the nod pushing the chin onto the back of his hand he let go of the loan shark and let the abused criminal catch his breath.
"Sorry about that, Hirai-san. It's just that we don't really tolerate that sort of language being pointed at someone like our boss. It's just rather unbecoming behavior of someone who isn't even worth his discarded waste. I hope you can at least understand that with your little cockroach brain."
They knew who he was. He was certain that his public identity was thoroughly scrubbed and buried under a litany of all sorts of bureaucratic garbage. He paid off the forgers and insiders with a small fortune and still this guy found out and threw out his name like it wasn't a big deal. If it was who he thought it was that had him trapped god knows where he was right now; then he was definitely underestimating a very old enemy of Japan's public for years.
"What do the Yakuza want with me? Did I step on someone's toes and they saw me as a threat? You lot really are just a shadow of what you were to feel threatened by someone like me."
Hirai felt rather smug about his position of being captured by the now barely recognized Yakuza. In his eyes this act of dominance was just a ploy to get him to cooperate with their operations. If he played his cards right he could negotiate his way out of here. Who knows, maybe a new business partner was in the works here. He never lacked confidence in his ability to negotiate and right now all he needed was a break in this guy's confidence to make his move. The look the guy shot back at Hirai wasn't one of irritation or dread; instead a look of incredulity and judgement, like Hirai just said something obvious like it was some kind of grand revelation.
"Well, yeah. They're like that because we want them there; and also what the hell are you talking about? What would the yakuza do with the likes of you; you're here because of what you did. We don't give a shit about who you are or what you do to keep the lights on."
They? These people weren't the Yakuza? In fact they talked down at the Yakuza like it was a diversity hire they couldn't fire. The events leading up to him being knocked out began to come back to him in more detail and he finally remembered he and his men were pretty much done leveling the place when he tried talking to the henchman in the living room and didn't get a response. He came out and saw the same asshole from the week before standing in piles of sharp shrapnel and even walking across it without a single drop of blood pouring from his feet. The conversation escapes him but the swing that knocked Hirai out was so fast it was just black in the blink of an eye. Was that what it was? He trashed one apartment and now he's about to be whacked for that?
"It was one fucking apartment… If you want I'll pay for the damages! I understand I might have pissed someone off; so just let me do something about it!"
The other guy just sighed and let his head hang with his arms crossed. This was getting nowhere and Hirai just wasn't getting it.
"I'll fucking apologize to whoever I need to! Whoever you people are, I'm sure we can figure something out! Right?!"
These people were too far out of Hirai's depth to be coy now. Even if he thought little about the Yakuza he would never go out of his way to challenge them. They were still an organization and he was just a small operation scamming and cheating vulnerable people out of their money. These people talked about themselves like the yakuza were a lap dog that was something they had to deal with. Who on earth had enough power in Japan to be such a giant?
"Listen, our boss would have killed you himself and by far he is so much worse than any of us. So be thankful he thought you weren't important enough for him to waste his time on you. Besides, he just wants to hurt you in the most basic of ways…"
The mysterious man retreated to the table he was organizing earlier and retrieved a wooden bat and gave the piece of athletic equipment a few practice swings. It was now clear to Hirai what this all was; he was here to be executed and there was nothing short of being beaten to death that would get him out of this place.
"... But, he never said you HAD to die like this. So being a merciful guy and not all that gung ho about taking my time with you I'm gonna give you a choice…"
Again he snapped his fingers and two men brought out an industrial trough filled with some sort of thick slurry of goo. They placed it down next to their superior and left the large metal bin there as they returned to the shadows.
"Say hello to your security."
The stench of blood was saturating the air around them with the heavy odor of oxidized metal and decaying human remains. Hirai saw the still intact chunks of organs and muscles floating and bobbing around like some sort of ghoulish stew. He wanted to throw up so much but he was too terrified to even move his eyes away from the buckets of gore. What did they have planned for him and that disgusting liquid?
"Don't worry about how they went; we made it quick. Other than that you have options I'm willing to give you, so listen closely."
This was so much worse than what he had first thought was an intimidation tactic. He was going to die and it wasn't going to be easy for him.
"One. Me and my men take the implements we have ready on that table and just beat you to death slowly. Two, we keep you locked down here until you finish off that trough there and we let you go after."
They what? Hirai couldn't hide his horror at what his choices were. On one hand he was going to die. On the other he could survive; but the torture of eating and drinking gallons of human remains would change him in ways that he couldn't even imagine. The guy standing there just waiting like this was just a simple conversation of what ifs made things so much worse. He didn't have any sort of attachment to the two bodyguards but this whole thing was still something right out of a serial killer's diary. There wasn't much thought necessary to realize option one was just death. Option two was the one throwing him off as he knew that this would take a significant amount of time to complete and would drag on for days; if not weeks, and by then he could get sick since it didn't seem his captors were merciful enough to refrigerate portions of the human sludge as he worked to clear the former bodyguards into his stomach. This was survival or death. His head felt like it would explode and all that thinking in circles was just a cheap way for Hirai to delay the choice he knew he was going to make. He worked too hard to make it as far as he did in life and backstabbed too many people to just die here. The urge to vomit was already making his stomach clench and twist painfully under his ribcage. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself and just bit the bullet. He would rather be tortured and survive than just die like an animal.
"... I pick opti-"
"Sir. You have a call."
Hirai was cut off with a message being passed to the judge of this twisted and hellish trial. One of the men approached with a cell phone and the receiver covered by his hand.
"So what? Taake a fucking message; I'm busy right now…"
The man leaned in closer and through the silence Hirai could still just make out what was being said.
"It's Nakamura-san. He heard what you were doing with the prisoner and he's not happy…"
Now it was the torturers' turn to go pale with fear at the news. He flattened his shirt and tie as he cleared his throat before taking the cell out of his employees hands.
"... Ahem, uh; good evening sir. I hope your evening is going well."
A pregnant pause but Haru's presence on the other end was very much there.
"... I understand that you've been rather busy tonight with our guest. As always you show initiative and creativity in everything you commit yourself to."
It was all a thinly veiled threat and the terrified underling knew it. He pulled at his tie to try and help alleviate the squeezing sensation around his neck.
"W-w-w-why ye-yes sir… I was indeed committing to performing above and beyond your expectations sir… I hope that this was all within your expected parameters…"
Haru was still sitting on the steps of his van that led into the kitchen as he was nursing an open can in his fingers and a lit cigarette in his fingers that were gripping the can from the top. In all honesty he really wasn't mad and knew that the instructions he gave the retrieval team were rather broad so he wanted to confirm something. He got in contact with the team lead that took the men to the disposal site they were processing the men and from there he was told what was scheduled for treatment and processing and having called just a bit ago he managed to stop the planned days and possible weeks of torture for the loan shark that vandalized the Ochaco residence. He got put in contact with the project lead and was now just clarifying his intentions for the prisoner.
"Listen, I know you only want to do your best and you have serious passion and potential. I respect that. However, my orders are to the letter and they are like that for a reason. As much as I would like to let you do what you want to the subject I have no room to just let my words be interpreted differently between everyone in the organization. Just understand that and keep that in mind in the future. If you really want to surpass my expectations, don't. I deal with too many decimal points to let wiggle room be a thing. Just get the job done and nothing else. Understood?"
Far from being the potential anger and screaming he was expecting followed by some sort of horrid fate; it was clarification and praise for his performance and hard work so far. He was beyond moved for such insight from someone as important and esteemed as Nakamura. He was trying to hold in his tears and instinctively bowed out of gratitude.
"Yes sir! Your request shall be executed perfectly! Thank you, sir!"
"Yes yes. Just spread the word around and we'll avoid this type of call in the future."
Haru hung up and went back to just enjoying the peace and calm of the neighborhood at night. Back at the disposal site the man hung up the call and straightened himself out before turning back to the anxious Hirai. Again he snapped his fingers and flicked his fingers to have his men take away the tub of human remains and dispose of it. The tub was carried back out of sight and from the darkness several men approached the table and retrieved all sorts of blunt instruments and approached the terrified prisoner still wrapped to the chair.
"It seems I made a poor decision in thinking that I could have done anything to improve upon our bosses orders. Anything short of exact and precise execution is nothing more than piss in the wind. So for now, I'm going to have to rescind my previous offer and go with the original action of slowly beating you to death."
Hirai didn't even have a second to try and at least resist his restraints as the bat in his tormentor's hands came down right onto his hand and a sickening crack echoed all around the large concrete room they were in. The pain was so intense he honestly tried to bite his tongue to try and just bleed himself to death. Three of the men there to join in on the beating stopped his jaw from clamping down and severing the soft muscle in his maw. They stuffed handkerchiefs deep into the back of his throat and despite gagging and trying to spit it out he couldn't find enough purchase on the packed fabric wedged into his jaw. His tongue was so compressed into the bottom of his mouth he couldn't even push it past his bottom row of teeth to try and bleed himself. The second blow came in and it was on his right foot. The torment didn't stop there as another blow came in and broke something else. They were all deliberate and patient with Hirai as it just kept coming in at a steady pace. To die like this was the worst. He at least deserved better than this hell.
An Hour Later
The men taking part of the beating had to take shifts and all of them even removed their jackets to try and air out the sweat building from going at it for so long. The body was swollen over every square inch of possible surface area that could have been struck with their crude weapons. After the leader of the group took up a monkey wrench after his bat broke he came up to deliver another blow when he saw that the body wasn't reacting or moving like before. He lowered the wrench and held two fingers against the deeply bruised and bleeding neck of the prisoner. Against the blue and green skin he couldn't feel a pulse anywhere. So he signaled to his men to listen in.
"So it looks like he's already dead. Alert sanitation that we're finished and finish up anything else that requires completion before the start of the work day tomorrow. Understand?"
His men all bowed to him and so he left for the exit. He opened the hidden door and let the supervisor of the disposal chamber know the victim was dead. The whole room was lit up once more and under the fluorescent lighting coming down the size of the room was now visible. It was about the size of a large hotel ballroom and to the right of the exit the setup for Hirai's death was rather petite in comparison. The rest of the men picked up their coats and sent a request for sanitation after exiting the concrete room. Shortly after leaving, sanitation personnel entered from the other side of the standard entrance and began disposing and removing the random items used for the execution. A panel opened nearby where they were cleaning and inside a large and wide chute leading down to the disposal center was revealed. The body was released and tossed into the hole along with all the crude blunt instruments used to beat the body broken and bruised. The table went as well and the only thing spared was the lighting.
The crew carried the tub of liquid human remains and dumped the tub down the chute and brought the tub over to the bloodied chair Hirai was bound to. The chute was shut and from the walls several pumps and other valves were revealed where the sanitation crew hooked up some hoses up to the outlets. The bloodied areas were first powdered and sprayed with cans of foaming solution and once that was set they sprayed the blood and gore free of the trough and chair in little time. The rest was just precision work and like nothing ever happened the room was wiped spotless. The sanitation crew retrieved what they needed to clear out the space for the next execution or torture scheduled for that space.
Three Weeks Later
Haru was using a padded mop to clean the last spot on the floor as the family the apartment belonged to was due to be back any minute. In the kitchen a meal of genuine mexican pork with hand pressed corn tortillas and a selection of different sauces made from scratch sat off to the side of the stove. Haru was dressed in an ornate button up with a bolo tie with brown leather strings and a copper metal clasp with the saint maria and bootcut jeans with a buckle that was on the smaller side of being rather large and a brown leather strap for the actual belt. He felt it appropriate to welcome the family back with some authentic Mexican food after their extended vacation.
The floor was spotless and while wearing new leather sandals for indoor use he double checked the simmering pork and adjusted the seasoning as necessary. It was of course delicious and savory enough as it was but being who he was he adjusted the recipe to be perfect and so had everything ready for the family's homecoming party. Haru had simple decorations set up with some streamers and balloons with a banner with customized american western themed text saying 'Welcome Home Hombre' in english.
The meat was set on the table just then when the front door opened and the sounds of an excited little girl came pouring in. Her parents were trying to get her to at least take off her shoes before leaping into the house. They just managed to remove her sneakers before she was off like a bolt to see her favorite uncle who also wasn't her uncle.
"Haru-san!"
"Hey, Kiddo!"
She sorinted right into Haru's open arms where he spun her around and kissed her on the cheeks and made her laugh uncontrollably with how much his beard tickled her face. The parents were in shortly and with some help from Haru and their daughter they were finally home.
"Oh, thank you Haru-san! Goodness, we've been gone for far too long, haven't we?"
Uraraka's mother was the first to speak to Haru in person since the last time he had seen the entire family.
"I guess. I just hope you guys enjoyed yourselves."
"Oh my goodness, it was unbelievable! I couldn't even imagine something so enchanting happening again in our lifetime! Alas, all good things must come to an end; and I for one am glad to be home and back to our lives."
The mother took one look at her much missed home and was rather amazed by what she saw.
"Uh, Haru-san? Is it just me or does the whole place feel a bit… Newer than before?"
He could feel the sweat drop form as indeed everything in the home was in fact pretty much brand new. The sanitation crew as well as the inspectors he put on the home's restoration did an excellent job at restoring the apartment as it was before it was destroyed. The problem came when it was time to try and age everything to look as identical to the original setting. Like someone recognizing the smell of their own house compared to others; the scent of fresh wood, new leather, and other betraying smells was still in the air despite the team's best efforts. It was barely an issue since Haru already had a response to the inquiry.
"I used a new cleaner and it seems that the manufacturer tried to replicate the smell of new furniture and I wasn't sure how you would respond. Do you dislike it?"
"Oh, goodness no! You've made this place shine and it just alarmed me a bit is all. My goodness it's like everything really is brand new!"
That was true. Haru didn't spare any expense since bringing in the construction work and being discovered by the landlord he bribed the owner with nine million yen and another five million on top of that to keep them quiet over the project. They graciously accepted the terms and left Haru and his team of pros to do what they needed. The plumbing was completely redone and unknown to the Ochaco's a rather pricey water heater was installed. It wasn't even available to the public yet as it was still a prototype pending for release. Everything that was damaged in the vandalism was repaired; but the additional wear and tear that had already existed for quite some time was also repaired and now it was like the room was as new as it was years ago. Also the areas that hid pests and excess moisture were addressed and padded with cutting edge materials. This place was as foolproof as humanly possible without the actual occupants even knowing about it.
"Man, I'm starving! What is this delicious smelling dish you've prepared for us here?"
Now the father was the one to speak up and immediately his stomach was what he was concerned with. Ochaco was already in her room checking on her pets and couldn't see her dad get his hand smacked by his wife as he tried to use his fingers to eat some of Haru's pork on the dining room table. She was scolding her husband over being considerate and not gross with food their friend had made for them. Their daughter heard the noise and so after checking on Shio and Ninjin she went out to the living room to see her dad looking like a beaten dog as she helped Haru set the table for the sumptuous meal. Uraraka hadn't eaten since early that morning and right now their stomachs were due for a refueling after the long ride back home and dealing with their internal clocks being reset.
"Oooo, what is that?"
"Authentic Mexican tacos! Real ingredients and real cooking methods. It's really good; want some?"
Uraraka could only manage an excited and frantic nodding that made her face blur with how fast she was swinging her head. After washing their hands and saying grace they dug into the fattening meal and were immediately reminded of how much of a culinary genius Haru was. The pork was juicy and so tender with the onions it simmered in that it was like gelatin with how soft it was. The sauces were sweet and savory unlike anything they could have imagined. The tortillas were so tender yet elastic enough to make the tacos always stay whole every time one was assembled. They all shared in the meal and enjoyed the company of one another for the rest of the day. It was definitely an amazing meal to come home to.
Evening
Haru was tucking the little Ochaco into bed since he had tucked in the parents just a little while ago. The experience of mexican cuisine wasn't complete for any self respecting adult without proper cerveza; a drum of authentic mexican beer and several hours of jovial drinking with the parents later they were both so drunk that they were struggling to sit upright by the time Haru cut the two of them off. Uraraka's parents were rather good at abstaining from alcohol since their daughter was born. Even with unlimited access on the cruise they were very good and mindful of their limits. Here, sharing conversation with Haru made them drop their guards and partake in the delicious foreign drink Haru had brought for their homecoming. They were out on the bed they shared and their daughter was right behind them in terms of falling into slumber.
Haru just tucked the child in and was about to leave the family to sleep when he heard something he would never forget.
"... uve u… Har… sn…"
He just looked back at the sleeping girl with genuine care as he closed the door behind him. It was nice to be reminded once in a while about why he went so far for those he cared about.
XX Years Later
The alarm on the phone awoke Haru early in the morning. He came to and dismissed the alarm as he was fully awake at this point in time. The room was sparsely furnished but was inlaid with some impressively decorative pieces of furniture. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all plain concrete slabs and things like the rug and bed were warmer in color scheme and used wood in their construction. He didn't waste any time in getting up and taking a shower as so to get to the first things he needed to do for that very important morning.
