The Yakuza base was big. Really big. Deku found himself sticking close to Toga's side as the pair walked up to the front door. There were a set of guards at the door, watching the two approach. As they got closer, Deku could see that the guards were eyeing them carefully, searching them for weapons.
Not that they would see any. They were too good at hiding them.
Toga skipped up to the guards, smiling. "Hi! We're here to see the boss man. Is he here?"
"You're the people from the League of Villains?" the first guard asked. "You can't be serious. You're both kids."
"We've done more than you ever could, so how about you let us in before someone sees us, yeah?" Deku snapped, his voice sounding odd as it passed through the voice modulator of his mask. "Some of us here are pretty damn recognizable and it sure ain't you."
The second guard snorted. "He's got you there. Alright, I'll show you the way. Follow me."
As they walked through the halls, the guard's eyes kept flicking back to them. Finally, he spoke.
"How old are you guys?"
"106," Deku said, deadpan.
The guard frowned, clearly trying to tell if he was serious or not.
Toga giggled, but didn't offer up any further information.
"Not to be rude, kids, but are you sure about this? We're the Yakuza, you know? This is going to be dangerous." The guard paused, sighing. "I just don't want to see any more kids tied up in this."
"Any more?" Toga said, cocking her head.
Deku frowned behind his mask. "Are there kids in the Yakuza?"
"Not typically. Not in the old days, at least," the guard said, his tone dark.
He said nothing more as he led them to a door and knocked at it. From inside, they heard movement and then the door opened, revealing one of Overhaul's close subordinates, a group that called themselves the Eight Bullets. His beaked mask was worn proudly, the leather material almost gleaming. Deku recognized him immediately and he hoped that Toga did too, considering he had spent a good portion of the night teaching her everything he knew about Overhaul's inner circle and their quirks.
He had done all the research, back when he first started hearing about the quirk drugs, both enhancing and erasing, that had come on the market. Deku wasn't about to let all that hard work of digging through shady websites and chat forums go to waste.
The man before them was Shin Nemoto; Quirk: Confession.
He was the one that they had to be careful with. Deku had quizzed Toga all night on how they could work around his quirk.
"You're late," he snapped, glaring at the teens.
"We were told to be here in the morning. It's morning," Deku snapped.
Toga glared back at the man. "If you wanted us here at a certain time, you should have given us one."
"It's 10 AM. That's late in the morning. I would think that the League of Villains would be more prompt and eager to work than this."
"Not with this one's sleep schedule," Toga said with a snort, elbowing Deku. "He's up all night and then crashes when the sun comes up. You're lucky to see him before noon."
"None of the good stuff happens in the mornings. If I want to find anything decent online, I have to do it at night," Deku huffed, playing along with her shenanigans.
He knew well enough that it was all a show she was putting on to irritate the Yakuza.
Nemoto huffed before opening the door wider and letting them enter. The guard watched as the two teens walked into the room, his expression conflicted, as though he had just allowed children to walk into a lion's den.
In a way, he almost had.
Deku scanned the room quickly, eyeing each person and cataloging them with their quirks. He saw the majority of the Eight Bullets, along with the leads of the Shie Hissaikai.
Overhaul sat on the couch; his quirk was obvious to both Deku and Toga, who had seen it in action. Then there was Chronostasis, the aide to the organization. His quirk was a dangerous one. You just had to be hit by his clock hand-like hair, and you'd be slowed down. Depending on which clock hand you were hit with would determine how slow you'd be. Then there was Mimic, the director. His quirk was called Mimicry, which let him merge his body with an object and control it. It was a useful quirk, though the man's temper got the better of him more often than not, making him less of a threat than the others.
Deep down, Deku knew if they could get through this next bit, he and Toga would be just fine. They just had to trick Nemoto's quirk.
Deku carefully kept his expression as neutral and non-threatening as possible as he came further into the room and dropped into the seat opposite Overhaul. Toga stayed standing, hovering at his shoulder.
"Glad to meet again on more pleasant terms, Overhaul," he said. "Let's try to get to know each other. I am Deku and with my analysis, I can get a read on people's strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and so on. I need to be able to watch the person, either face to face or over video, to be able to analyze them. You remember Toga, I am sure. With Transform, she is able to turn herself into anyone she drinks the blood of. The more blood she drinks, the longer she can appear as that person. Any questions?"
Overhaul looked at them, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "You're rather forthcoming, aren't you? Does this mean there are no hard feelings about Magne? I didn't want to kill him, you know."
Toga hissed slightly, glaring. "You mean her. "
Deku put a hand on Toga's arm. "He won't make the mistake again, don't worry, Toga," he said, giving Overhaul a pointed look. "Now, it's pointless to beat around the bush, Overhaul. The more you know about us, the quicker you can put us to work and the quicker we can be done working here. So let me repeat myself. Do you have any questions for us?"
There was a tense pause, everyone silent, and for the briefest moment, Deku was worried that everything was going to backfire. Finally, Overhaul turned and gave a short nod to Nemoto.
Nemoto turned, activating his quirk.
" Did you tell us the truth? " he said, his voice almost hypnotic.
Deku spoke before he could even think. "Yes. I told the truth."
" Is there anything else we need to know, or should know, about both of your quirks? "
"No," Toga and Deku both said, Nemoto's quirk washing over the pair of them.
" And do either of you have a plan to betray us? Did Shigaraki tell you to double cross Overhaul? "
"No to both," Toga said, speaking up. Deku nodded along with her.
Most would not have noticed, but to Deku's trained eye, he could see Overhaul relax slightly in his seat.
"Good. Now, I will have someone show you to your rooms. You will be staying here in the house during the duration of our partnership."
"Can we share a room?" Toga asked, smiling and flashing her fangs. "Deku-kun and I always share a room."
"There would only be one bed."
"I hardly sleep at night anymore so it's not a big deal," Deku said with a wave of his hand. "We'd be happy to see the room now, though. I would like to get my laptop set up. Afterall, I am best known for my hacking. I am assuming these skills will be put to use while we're here."
--
"Bakugou! Hey, wait up!" Kirishima called, chasing after Bakugou as the blonde walked towards the dorms.
"What do you want, Shitty Hair?"
"I just wanted to check on you. Ever since your friend died, you've -"
Bakugou spun around, snarling. "He wasn't my friend!" After seeing Kirishima's startled, almost scared expression, Bakugou sagged and hung his head. "He wasn't my friend really. We grew up together and I was a dick to him. After everything with the training camp and the League wanting to kidnap me to convert me, I realized how much of an asshole I've been to everyone in my life, especially De-, especially to Izuku. I mean, I have to be a pretty shitty excuse of a person for the villains to think I would ever join them. So I thought maybe I could get better. I'd been writing a letter to send him. An apology letter. I would have gone to talk to him in person but I was pretty sure that he would have just run from me. Damn nerd was pretty scared of me by the end of middle school. But I couldn't get the fucking letter right. And now it doesn't matter. He's dead and none of it fucking matters."
Bakugou felt his eyes starting to burn, tears threatening to well. He squeezed them shut, ducking his head even further and bringing his shoulder up to his ears as he balled his hands into fists, waiting for Kirishima to say something.
Instead, he felt tentative fingers touching one of his fists, gently prying it open. Kirishima slipped his hand into Bakugou's, giving it a small squeeze.
"I'm so sorry, Bakugou. You didn't get to say goodbye at all and that has to be really hard. Come on, how about we go up to my dorm, make a bunch of snacks, and you can tell me more about him. If you want, you can read your letter to me. I can help you finish it and we can take it to his grave and leave it there. How does that sound?"
A shuddering breath slipped from Bakugou's lips as he sagged again, leaning forward just enough to press his forehead into Kirishima's shoulder.
"Yeah, that sounds good. You better not tell anyone about this though."
"My lips are sealed, bro. Now come on! I bet if we hurry, we can grab some of those fancy candy bars Yaoyorozu bought for everyone before Kaminari gets into them."