Sorry for the long wait, with so many things happening and changes in the household (my sister moving in with my brother for instance), I haven't had the time nor drive to write, but I managed! enjoy.
Eri was at first nervous about the new people that came in the house, but with Jesse holding her hand and coaxing a few answers from the scarred child, she was able to say a little of what Chisaki used her curse for. She didn't know the specifics, but that was enough of a testimony for the heroes to actually gain a warrant for an arrest. Awata was trying to cheer her up with her quirk, making bubbles of different colors to impress the little girl.
Then someone else came in.
"Tempesta, what happened while I was gone?" he asked, and Eri was more than a little intimidated by his large build and yellow eyes (so much like his) until he gave her a warm smile. It was like Deku's, but sharper; a blade instead of a shield, but it still made her feel like she mattered.
"Caballero, this is sir Nighteye, Bubble Girl, and Lemillion from Deku's agency. He seems to have gotten into trouble helping get Eri-chan here away from the Yakuza." Jesse said with a veiled rage behind her smile.
"The hell, it's the first fucking day in the area…" the large man growled before collecting himself and giving an introduction. "Hello, My name is Anima, but I go by the hero alias Fiara."
"Pleasure." Nighteye said before relaying what they knew so far. The palatable anger from Anima was startling, but it stemmed from a protective streak of someone he considered family.
"Right. You're his superior, so you get the joy of dealing with paperwork. Do you think it'd be safer for Jesse to stay with your group, or with my wife and I?" the werewolf asked. There was a pause as the Seer thought over the options.
"In terms of pure power, my agency is rather lacking, but I take it you aren't?" Nighteye stated rather than asked.
"I don't have All Might's strength, but I'm better skilled and about as durable. Heightened senses on top of that and they would be hard pressed trying to sneak up on us." was the reply and Mirio looked skeptical, but seeing Nighteye take the larger man seriously, decided not to question.
"Alright then, but you are dealing with the custody paperwork. I'll organize a meeting the day after tomorrow with the other heroes." he said without preamble.
"Then we'll meet again in two days." Anima agreed before the guests started to leave. It was getting dark, and the Cacciatores slept in wolf form, with Eri in between the two, warming her in more ways than one.
"Don't worry Eri, Deku will be fine, and we'll protect you until he comes back." Jesse said soothingly before the scarred girl fell asleep without fear for the first time she could remember.
"Gahk!" Deku coughed as he felt another blow to his gut from his tormenter, Rikiya Katsukame. Apparently, just because they had someone who could force the truth out of you didn't mean they weren't above brutalizing you.
"Notin' personal, just need ta rough ya up before negotiations." the massive man said as he gave the greenette time to breathe.
"Y-yeah, just doing what you're told, right? Kah!" Deku repeated before coughing again. "What happened to Yakuza honor though? I remember stories where you guys had one…"
"Really?" Rikiya asked before delivering another punch, this time to the cheek. "Can't say I 'ave mahself." The hero got his bearings again before replying.
"Yeah, back before the Kosei Reform, they followed the Ninkyo code of honor. Oyabuns worried about making sure the people and territory were well maintained before expanding and making a profit." there was another impact against his arm, making him hope it didn't dislocate from the sound of the pop.
"Huh, well that's inerestin'. Why would they run ship like dat?" the muscled yakuza inquired. He never had the chance to learn, growing up in the junkyards with his old man before it was bought out by a big-name company; after that, he had to worry about food more than books.
"because people buy more when they're happy and safe. Yakuza got profit from protection rackets and drugs, among other things like legitimate businesses. You hear the phrase 'don't crap where you eat?' if the civilians find the local crime lords more appealing, or less shitty, than they prefer to have the better one in power." at this point Rikiya was more interested in listening to the teenage hero than beating him black and blue, so he pulled up a chair.
"What 'bout the fuzz? They ain't gunna just let us run 'round. Heroes are none different."
"That's the smart thing they did; Yakuza compromised. With a couple moles here, giving tips to the cops about competitors and invaders on their turfs there, and not selling the stuff that'll turn heads, and the police kept a good reputation and had more control than they otherwise would while the crime bosses stayed in power. There were even instances of them offering relief aid during natural disasters."
There was a pause as Rikiya thought over the information given to him. While he was uneducated, he was quick on the uptake and started seeing how such a system would work. It was bloodier than mentioned, no doubt, but the idea of focusing everyone on the dangers outside of your territory while keeping thing relatively clean inside, you had the good graces of the officials to look the other way and paying the media off, though harder now, wasn't impossible. There was only one thing missing though.
"Ya can't keep that balance forever without ta otha shoe droppin'." he said succinctly, but Deku only grinned.
"When you're more effort to take out than your worth and have enough capital to make people miserable if you leave, it's better to have the enemy you know has similar interests rather than the one banging down the door and killing your men." was the young heroes response.
The massive thug was thinking about what new threats the Eight Precepts of Death were dealing with and how the old style mitigated if not outright dealt with them. They had to spend massive amounts to keep the press from shouting their crimes, the internet was a bitch to scan over for videoes of their shakedowns, the police were investigating them, the heroes were now going to raid the base for one of their own, and the punks and outside gangs were spreading them thin enough that a few were arrested or killed.
"Ya got a point kid, now I feel kinda bad about smakin' ya down." he admitted.
"Enough to stop?" Deku asked hopefully.
"Sorry, can't." Rikiya cracked his knuckles. Before he could continue, the door opened to show Rappa.
"Hate to break up your fun, but the boss found out where the girl lived with a few of his contacts; some couple called Cacciatores are keepin' her, so we're gonna show 'em why they should ditch her, so grab a light stick on the way." the brawler explained. Deku laughed silently at the idea.
Anima and Jesse were protecting her, so he was sure she'd be fine; you never want to piss off a werewolf, let alone two.
The next day, Anima took Eri out to get her clothes and things for her stay. He saw the way his wife acted around her, and knew this would be more than a foster or temporary arrangement if she had any say about it. Not that he would try and stop her anyway; kids always made the house more lively.
His first thought was the mall, but realizing how overwhelming that would be for the little girl, he went to a more local strip and had her choosing clothes from a nice store. There came issue number one.
"Eri-chan, it's fine to have more than three sets of clothes; in fact, I want you to have more than that." the martial artist told her, but she only picked up another shirt and skirt. Apparently, she didn't understand what indulging meant. Taking a breath, Anima decided to pull a card he hadn't needed to use in some time; buying behind her back.
Every time her eyes lingered on a shirt or dress, the werewolf would add it to the cart when Eri wasn't looking. Was it the best idea? No, but she needed to learn wanting things didn't mean not getting at this point. Later on, they'd cut back on spoiling her.
Her look of shock when they got to the register was admittedly funny, but that wasn't the end to shopping.
After having all of their things delivered to home, the two went to a cafe for food. Eri was still overwhelmed by the waitresses and the large portions they gave her, but the horned child eventually finished her sandwich and apple ribbon. Seeing her still not opening up to him all that much, Anima decided to drive the two out to see something more than the noisy metropolis that was Mustafu. Making sure her helmet was on right (not easy with an asymmetric horn, but doable), the two rode out of the city to the mountain track at highway-breaking speeds.
The thrill of knowing that you had so much power beneath you was lost on the werewolf, but the feeling of wind against your face and buffeting your body wasn't. Sure he could run even faster than a jetliner could fly on most days, but that took effort, while the motorcycle didn't.
Feeling Eri against his chest and between his arms, he sensed her excitement, but also a slight bit of fear. It took a while to reach the rest platform that overlooked the forest near where the Pussycats lived. The forest was probably going to turn red in a few weeks, but for now, the green leaves were still there for his charge to enjoy.
"How're you holding up, chibi?" he asked as she looked out over the cliff face. She looked up at the unfamiliar nickname.
"I'm okay, it's just…" Eri trailed off.
"Too much change?" the werewolf supplied. As she nodded, Anima knew what the main issue was; she was scared that if she acted out, she would end up back with her tormentors by drawing too much attention. The werewolf sat cross-legged and put his charge in his lap.
"How 'bout I tell you of a friend I had. His name was Denis, and he was scary powerful with his quirk." Anima started to talk. He told her of the man who would later be known as the hero Mind Master, his folk's abandoning him, living on the streets, and later finding the werewolf and his friends. The good he did, and the trauma he overcame. Enrapturing the child on the accomplishments of the man who the world tried to break, and how he broke the world back. Nearing the end of the story, Eri asked a question.
"What happened to him?" she knew he was talking in past-tense, meaning something happened to the man she could see herself as.
"After his wife died he just, shut down." Anima explained. "She was his world, and with her gone, he didn't want to keep going; we found him a week after in his bed, dead from carbon monoxide poisoning."
There was no sugarcoating from him about what happened, and Eri cried for a person she never met while Anima held onto her. Once that dam broke, all of her emotions came bursting through.
"It alright chibi, let it out as much as you want." the werewolf soothed as he comforted the girl in his arms. It was a bit of a dirty tactic to use his late friend's memory to help her cry over her own situation, but it was ultimately better in the long run.
After a while, Eri calmed down and the two decided to go home. Taking the main roads because of the late hour, the motorcycle got to the Cacciatore villa.
Which happened to be on fire…
"Well fuck." Anima said succinctly.
That's a wrap for now. So Anima's home is up in flames, the heroes are gathering, and the yakuza are trying to pick another fight with something they don't understand. But for this chapter, was Anima's trick to get Eri to express her emotions underhanded? Hell yes, but living for so long means that he has seen the downsides of suppressing volatile emotions from dozens of examples (himself included), and if that meant playing the devil's advocate, he doesn't mind being hated. Anyways, thank you for sticking with me, and please leave a review. I have so far still hept up my goal of reading every one of your 258 comments. Till next time!