A Wannabe Hero In Another World!
Chapter 2: Interrogated in Another World
The bars of the cage glisten in the waning light of day, the sky bathed orange and purple, and the few remaining people out in the market quietly exchanging rumors and information alongside wares and coins.
One such trader of diminutive stature draped in a blue cloak with a silver inlaid hood, stared at the pointy eared child laying on its back. It was by no means a normal boy, pointy ears were common in families that had elf heritage that was well documented fact this day and age, but the forked tongue was more than could be reasoned away with a wave of the hand. The lack of tail, wings, and some variety of horn or antlers made her unsure if she truly stared at an Imp, immature or not. But she had more than enough experience with this sort of thing to know this boy was no Mutant. Perhaps an unlucky lab rat?
The clink of chain mail pulled her from such though as she turned to look at the two town guards that had delivered this boy to her. Truth be told she expected more when they had showed up with him stuffed in a burlap sack and all but demanded she have a warded cage at the ready.
"I'll give you seven, no, six gold drakes for the boy."
The younger of the guards stiffened, six golden drakes, even split as it would be, was nothing to sneeze at! Already the taste of imported booze danced across his tongue. But the older fellow beside him with the burned cheek and missing left eye sucked his teeth at the offer.
"I wouldn't sell for less than nine!"
"Then you'll make no sale with me, and no sale at all considering the goods." She huffed at his terse refusal.
The three of them remained silent for several seconds, the young guard especially biting his tongue so as to not anger his superior even as the siren call of gold grew louder and louder. The older guard looked at the cloaked woman as she sat down on her stool.
"Commander Ryo—"
"I'm certain Bjorn wouldn't appreciate you throwing that name around."
"Bjorn, is sure this Imp is worth twelve drakes, but if you want to make a stink about it, I'd settle for nine."
The cloaked woman said nothing for a long moment until she began trembling, the young guard took this to mean her ire was growing so he reached for his blade only to be stopped by his senior placing a hand on the pommel, her shoulders shook and she tossed back her head as a loud laugh escaped her, "Bjorn can be sure that the sky is blue and water is wet, but this thing is worth no more than seven drakes, and I'll take him for six because of the hassle of offloading him later."
The senior guard looked around to ensure her raucous laughter hadn't attracted unwanted attention, his arms crossed over his chest as his mollers chewed on the inside of his cheek. The brow upon his head twitched as a vein bulged along his neck. Memories of a bygone era where a name like that of his old commander carried enough wait that if you told someone that white was black they'd discard their beliefs and carry yours wholeheartedly.
"Six drakes then…"
The woman extended a hand, a dainty thing with a silver ring upon every finger except that thumb which sported two, and each silver band had a gem of royal blue set with expert craftsmanship into it.
"Shake on it."
The old guard nearly cringed at that, before nudging his junior with an elbow to avoid uncrossing his arms, and his young counterpart was more than willing to shake for the gold and get business moving, but it seemed their trader was less than content.
"Put your eager hand away boy, check that greed of yours lest it set you on a path to an early grave. Now, Yongen. Shake. My. Hand."
Yongen grumbled and nearly spat a curse at the woman, but you didn't reach old age by being foolhardy, he reached out and completely enclosed her hand in his, "I will hear no word of this getting back to us."
"Of course not Yon~," the woman nearly sang as they shook, "what kind of a smuggler do you take me for?"
Once their hands broke apart she pulled aside her cloak and reached for a pouch tied to her skirt and handed it off to the young guard, "Heed the words of your seniors child. The young should bury the elders, not the other way around."
He simply nodded as he pulled at the drawstring and counted the coins before nodding to his superior that it was all there. She waited more than patiently for the pair to walk off before turning to look at the still unconscious thing she had just bought. She likely could have fought for four drakes, but if she made it far enough east she could unload this young one for double or triple that to the right plantation owner.
She snapped her fingers twice and from the tent to her left came a tall and slender woman in a red robe with midnight black hair that ran like a river down her back and nearly to her knees. The woman walked with an incomparable grace and confidence until she reached the shorter woman where she bent her knees and bowed her head so low that her forehead nearly rested on the cobblestones.
"Master Mabufa. How may I serve you?"
Mabufa sighed as she reached out and petted the top of the kneeling woman's head, "First fetch a pail of water and rag for this one to cleanse himself upon awakening, then begin packing our belongings, we head east come morning."
"At once my master."
"Oh, Sayuri,"
"Yes master?"
"Set a pot of tea to boil as well, I'm expecting a long chat soon."
"As you command."
The cloaked trader watched as the attentive servant made to follow her order before looking up to the darkening sky. A few twinkling stars were already out, their shining gleam defiant against the dark sky despite a few remnants of sunlight far out on the horizon remaining. The shuffling sound of fabric let her know that her newest purchase was finally waking up. She watched as Izuku trembled and curled up on himself, trembling for several long minutes and then releasing a harsh cough and trying to empty his stomach of whatever bile it held, even if nothing came out.
Her ringed hands came up and pulled the hood of her cloak back to reveal the face of a woman who had seen many winters, despite her advancing age her hair was a color comparable to the midday sky, "Your name boy, tell it to me."
Izuku shook and did his best to keep his eyes away from anything, he no longer had adrenaline to spur on his courage, his trembling hands laid flat against the cage floor and when he tried to push himself up into a sitting position his elbows gave causing him to nearly smash his chin into the floor.
"Master Mabufa asked for your name boy, not for you to sit!" Sayuri growled as she exited the tent with a wooden tray in one hand, a plain kettle with two cups beside it rested atop said tray, and a water pail with an old fraying cloth draped over the rim in the other.
"Enough Sayuri, the child's quite lucky to be alive after a direct Zio, his wits likely haven't found him yet."
"Your compassion is as boundless as the skies above our heads Master!"
Mabufa only hummed at this as Sayuri poured her master a cup of tea and left the pail near the bars of the cage before she set off to complete her other chores. The old woman sipped her drink and let the flavor of mint linger before looking at the boy, "Your name child, tell it to me."
"M-m-Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku."
"Oho! A family name, not one I recognize but still. Hmm, tell me Mr. Izuku, would you care for some tea before we continue?"
Izuku would've rather said no honestly, but as he prepared to utter the refusal his throat clenches and his chapped lips tabbed together like two rough stones, his captor made the decision for him and set the steaming cup just past the bars. With not an insignificant amount of effort he managed to make his way over and lift the drink to his lips, ignoring the warm steam that tickled his nose or the heat that moved from the cup to his fingers, and tried to drink its contents in one gulp.
"Gah!" Only for the nearly boiling liquid to dribble down his chin as he spit it up on himself and the floor of his cage.
"Hmm." Mabufa hummed as she raised a hand and pointed a single finger at the cup, Izuku nearly dropped the cup as the contents instantly cooled down and the cup developed a layer of frost. She watched without judgment as the boy brought the chilled cup to his lips and gulped at the remaining contents, not a care at the fact that some of it streamed down his face, she also withheld her words as he dragged his palms across his face and licked at whatever drops remained on them.
"Seems they forgot to water you on the day's journey out here. Honestly I'm surprised your hair didn't start to wilt!" Her joke caught Izuku off guard but he remained quiet as she laughed at her own remark.
It doesn't take long for Mabufa to catch on that she's the only one laughing, her smile shrinks to a restrained frown and narrowed eyes looking off to the side as she mumbles, "Sayuri would've found it funny."
The two say nothing as she gestures to the bucket of water beside his, and he looks at it as though it were some foreign thing no clue what she expects him to do with it, but knowing that she has power over cold he doesn't risk angering her and reaches for the rag, the sopping wet old towel barely bigger than his hand as he pulls it close and starts cleaning at the spilled tea, flinching when she starts to laugh again.
"You know Mr. Izuku, usually we use bath towels to clean ourselves and not the floors of cages." His reddening face grows warm as he realizes she meant for him to clean himself while she watches, "My, my, a shy one aren't we? Well you should leave that behind, there'll be no place for it moving forward. Consider this a favor. Easing you into it."
Izuku wants her to elaborate, wants to understand what exactly is happening, but before he can do any of that he realizes that this isn't a fever dream or a coma and that his shirt is still stained red from another man's blood and has become stiff. His trembling hands moved with frantic ease at pulling apart the buttons, ripping them from their stitches in his haste to pull it off, free of his shirt he's all too eager to scrub at his stained skin with the washcloth. Mabufa can't help but blink with surprise, unable to gauge this boy in front of her, one second utterly dumbfounded by a washcloth and nervous to show skin in front of someone else and then the next he's half naked and scrubbing with fervent desire to cleanse himself.
Izuku makes no move to rid himself of his trousers, telling himself the dark spot on his pant leg isn't blood but instead it's just mud or some other normal thing that stains clothes. He keeps insisting this to himself. He tries not to look up as Sayuri walks back, an old pair of beige trousers and a white shirt are laid none too far from him.
"Once you're clean, you may thank the Seven Stars that master has blessed you with her charity. These clothes should fit even your scrawny frame."
Izuku says nothing as she leaves and the damp cloth grows cold in his hand.
"Feel free to finish washing up and getting dressed, I'll hold off on my question until then. I'm in an exceptionally good mood."
Izuku wants to whimper at the humiliation of being caged and having someone watch him bathe. The churning in his stomach leaves him uneasy, but the growing fear in the back of his mind reminds him that freezing to death can't be any more pleasant than being shocked so he begins to undo his pants and scrubs at the skin. The clothes Sayuri brought out aren't anything fancy, not that he expected them to be, but he wonders why they're so scratchy. The linen fabric isn't as finely woven as his old clothes, but he doubts he'll ever be able to remove the red stains in them.
"Now then—"
"Is this Hell?" Izuku cuts her off without realizing it. His head still can't look away from the ground and his curling hands refuse to release the pressure, despite the growing pain and tightness in his palm and knuckles.
Mabufa half expects Sayuri to burst out of the tent in a furious rage at her master being interrupted, but when that fails to happen she can focus on what her latest purchase just asked, "Hell? No, this is Marksden. I can't say I've ever heard of this Hell, is that where you're from?"
"Huh? Stop joking around, that isn't funny!"
Izuku has to cover his mouth as he realizes he just raised his voice and has likely signed his death warrant, only nothing happens, not even a drop in the ambient temperature.
"No, no, I might look like I know everything, but I've never even heard of Hell, tell me, do you know what their main export is?"
Izuku wants to get angry, he wants to laugh and to cry, but he can't stop seeing that infinite hall, all those doors. The man at the desk. Snapping fingers catch his attention and force him to look into the chilling sapphire colored eyes of Mafuba.
"Focus Mr. Izuku. You aren't from here, that much is obvious. Are you some mad researchers lab experiment? A noble lord's runaway bastard? Tell me."
"Experiment…? Lord's bastard…no…no, I'm a middle schooler at Aldera junior high! I'm from Japan! I wasn't supposed to end up here, I just wanted a quirk!" He cried, grabbing at the bars as finally his frustrations with all of this came to a head, only for the thing he feared this whole time to finally happen, a cold descended over him, his muscles stiffened and he had to let go of the bars as the cold threatened to freeze his skin off.
"You will watch your tone Midoriya. My curiosity will not hold my pride at bay, and I will not be spoken to this way. I care little for speaking with those afflicted with madness. Mind yourself going forward for my next reprimand will not leave you so well."
Izuku watched as the small woman walked away and left him alone, arguably just as clueless as they both started, he fell onto his back and looked at the rusted roof of his cage, too short to stand in so his threw a forearm over his eyes and let the tears leave him as the dark silence of night surrounded him and his whimpering.
Sayuri watched the sniffling boy and frowned, releasing the flap allowed it to block the view of the small green haired one, and allowed her to turn her full attention to her master as she sat upon her cot.
"I've never heard of a land called Jaah-Pan, Have you Master?"
Mabufa said nothing for a long moment, eyes locked on a corner of the tent even if they looked so much farther, "Japan, Midoriya …This one is mysterious, a vexing thing, whatever the case I should sell him quickly, I foresee nothing good of letting this one remain with us. You know how easterners feel about foreigners as it is."
Sayuri said nothing as she filled a bowl with steaming broth and deposited a few of the larger vegetables and meat chunks for her master. She delivered the bow to her atop another tray and set it atop a stand beside her bed. Her hands brushed away the wrinkles from her dress and she moved to go collect the tray and teapot from outside, lest the deplorable hoodlums come about and think themselves clever for attempting to steal from her most treasured and benevolent master due to her advancing age.
"Sayuri," her master's cool voice caught her just as her thin fingers brushed against the flap leading outside, she turned in an instant and kneeled at the address.
"Yes Master?"
"Give Midoriya something to eat, it'd be a shame to lose six gold drakes because he starved."
It struck her as odd that a request made by her absolute ruler left her gasping but she couldn't hold her tongue and blindly follow this order, "W-while I understand this Master, shouldn't we hold off till the morrow comes, so as to serve as a lesson for his disrespect of you?"
"Oh, so you were listening. Hmm, my temper has grown short in my old age, and Midoriya is hardly considered a person in his own right any longer. But he is a boy, and a scared one at that. I'll instill some lessons in him before passing him off."
"E-eh?!" Sayuri's face grew as red as her dress at the undignified response she just gave, the embarrassment caused her fingers and toes to curl as a dopey look filled her face.
"If I get him acting like an obedient servant I'll be able to upcharge whatever fool comes along!"
Sayuri no longer wished to question her master's intent or wishes and simply returned to the long table she used each day to prepare the meals. The discarded roots of the carrots and radishes along with the fat trimmings still rested on the cutting surface. She internally debated tossing the raw bits and vegetables into a bowl with some cold water overtop, but thought better of it as a look over her shoulder revealed Mabufa's vested interest. A few short minutes over a bare pan gave them some color so as to not leave them raw, and a splash of the broth almost gave it the illusion of a decent meal. The entire thing barely filled up the cracked wooden bowl she had picked out but it was more than she believed he deserved.
"I shall return in just a moment my master," she says whilst bowing with bowl in hand, a careless wave of the hand is all she gets as Mabufa lays out all the coins she attained through today's trades and begins to write out the balance in her ledger.
The night is cool and refreshing for this time of summer Sayuri notes with a smile, the noise of the nearby village is lively enough to ward off worry but nothing so harsh as to keep her from sleeping. The stones feel nice beneath her bare feet, a rare thing since she much prefers the rough dirt of the roads between the villages.
The whimpering of the boy in the cage is restrained, either he's prideful enough to not want his captors to hear him, or he's smart enough to not want to annoy them further. Seeing him squirming on the floor of a cage, the clothes presented to him hanging loose on him, she can't help but to compare him to a maggot…
"Maggot! Master Mabufa has further shown her vast charitable spirit by way of feeding you, express your gratitude by leaving it spotless before I return for it at dawn's light."
Izuku says nothing as she sets the bowl down and returns to her tent with teapot in hand.
oOo
Eyes flutter open as the first rays of morning light begin to shine against the thin wall of the tent. Rising from her bed of straw Sayuri pulls her hair around and draws her fingers through it to pull free any embedded twigs, a few quick strokes proves to be enough and she stands to wrap herself in her red robe.
Whilst Mabufa continues to slumber, the days chores are underway, setting the morning tea to brew, laying out a fresh cloak, setting aside dried fruits—
"Take the boy into town and fetch some dried meats and fruits, I want to depart for Danpol by midday."
The red clad servant girl said nothing as her mind worked out the distance, it wasn't a mighty pilgrimage or any length comparable, but the rains would grow colder and the wind's fierce this time of year. She however wisely bit her tongue as her place was to follow orders and not question them.
"Should I collar the Maggot?"
Mabufa stopped her morning stretches as she heard that, never before had Sayuri been one for needless insults or cruelty, or at least she'd never been so vocal and direct about them to her. But how her young servant developed mattered little by day's end if her loyalties were still strong, "No need, his potential for magic is noticeable if only barely. If he could strike a tinder bundle with Agi, or illuminate the bulbs in Green Isle with Zionga, I'd be surprised."
The servant girl nodded at the master's words and finished the morning tea, setting a cup by her lady's bedside and kneeling atop her own straw bed to savor her own cup. As the savory tang of citrus hit her tongue she looked up and saw the outline of the cage on the tent wall. Etiquette would dictate preparing a cup for their newest addition, but this was the first time Sayuri had ever had the displeasure of seeing her dear master perform her less than regular trade. Sitting here atop a bed of straw as she had done for nearly two winters now left her grasping for mental clues, trying to puzzle out who Bjorn was and if she had seen Mabufa interact with guards as casually as those two from yesterday.
As she ran down these winding paths of thought another occurred to her, what if while she was collecting items a potential buyer took interest in the "Maggot"?
"Pardon me Master Mabufa."
"Yes?"
"What shall I say to anyone looking to buy the Maggot you have for sale?"
Mabufa set aside her own cup and played with the idea in her mind, they weren't far west enough to reach the provinces that had outlawed slavery, and the northerners likely were too busy with their own affair to be galavanting so far from home. All that considered, she doubted she'd find anyone in this humdrum village that could part with any more than four golden drakes beside the lord of the lands, but rumors placed him somewhere to the south on a sailing excursion regardless.
"Doubtful that you'd find someone with the coin, but if it arises and you can trust their character, shoot for ten gold drakes."
"Then I shall depart with the Maggot at once."
"Will you not offer our newest friend a cup? While we may only be together for a short time, let us not be needlessly cruel. Who knows what his next owner might be like after all."
Sayuri had her reservation about sharing tea with the Maggot, it seemed especially cruel to let him get used to a form of treatment that his next lord or lady might not display.
"If that is your wish my Master."
Mabufa swiped a hand across the lockbox underneath her cot, the cylinders clicked into place and the latch popped open. Perfectly stacked rows of golden and silver drakes lined the box, even a few copper pennies could be seen, though their luster was unusual for the commoners coin. The ringed hand of Mabufa extracted two dozen pennies and placed them into a simple leather coin purse with a braided cord sewn into the length to act as a drawstring.
"You've been doing excellent work, and surprisingly the horses have taken a liking to you I did not foresee. If you come across anything that catches your eye feel free to buy it."
Sayuri's eyes grew to the size of saucers and her mouth silently opened and closed as words failed her, shakily she raised her hands and waved them as if to deny the proposition, only to grow further flustered as her master laughed at her miming.
"Go on now, midday will be here before you know it."
Coin purse in hand, robe firmly fastened, and a mental list of the essential for the journey meant Sayuri was ready to leave and do As Mabufa bid her to. The only irritating part was as she came to stand before the cage and saw the still sleeping Maggot, slight red marks near the corners of his eyes indicated a long evening of weeping. She found the bowl off to one corner, the broth drained and the roots marked with nibbled spots, but he ignored the trimmings she'd added which caused her face to scrunch up at his ungrateful display.
She undid the latch sealing the door and then knocked atop the heavy metal roof, the repeating clang getting the young man to stir from his slumber and eventually sit up, narrowly missing hitting his head on the ceiling due his shorter height.
"Maggot, master Mabufa has given us purpose through her orders. Come along so we might follow her will," Sayuri says, stepping aside to reveal the fully opened cage door.
Izuku, almond still groggy from sleep, hears the words and lets them settle into the vast field of thought but cannot bring himself to truly listen to their meaning. His arms fling forwards and his feet kick out from under him as he scrambles into a scurry just past Sayuri and then into a full sprint toward the denser part of the village he sees.
Sayuri at first believed his mad dash to exit the cage, his demonstration of devotion to their—begrudgingly—shared master, she would never have considered the idea in a million years that one might attempt to run from her understanding and benevolent Lady. The fact that the Maggot would do so after accepting clothes and a meal only further to tint her face red with rage. She takes off after the green haired boy, not willing to let this be a loss to Mafuba's expenses on her behalf.
The chase goes on longer than either of them could have expected, Izuku for his part channels all of the years of running away from bullies, though mostly it was his one time friend Kacchan doing the chasing. Though as fast as he ran, despite bringing his knees as high as possible for each stride, Sayuri seemed to be gaining. Her form wasn't as optimum as his own, but her taller stature proved the greater advantage, her own strides despite not being as efficient simply covered more ground.
So Izuku did the only thing he could think of, running into a crowd for either the chance to lose the interest of his pursuer, or possibly trip them up on someone else while he got away. He was decidedly ignoring the fact that he couldn't simply run to his mothers apartment and had no real escape route or destination to get to. But as with each time he glanced over his shoulder to see the red robe and black glowing hair of Mabufa's servant gaining on him, his mind became more focused on the sole task of evading her.
He bumped against several women with large baskets in hand, their cries of affront doing little to slow him, but he did mumble an apology as he left as his manner hadn't yet fully evaporated. At one point he felt slender fingers brush against the back of his neck as they attempted to grab the collar of his new shirt, his sideways dive saved him from the initial capture, but his failure to track his surroundings caused him to smash his nose into the post of a raised deck.
All rhyme and reason vacated his head as he fell backwards onto his rear and clutched his bleeding nose, the entirety of his new world forgotten as he felt the blood ooze down his face and soak his hand.
Unfortunately while he may have banished all thought of this world from his kind the reality of the situation was less than forgiving enough to give him respite while nursing his likely broken nose. Two a hand slinked under his arms and hoisted him up like one would a small child, they spun him with an easy movement that permitted no resistance from him, and those two hands that had lifted and reoriented him then locked shut on his shirt, the fabric wadded white knuckle right in their grip. Izuku opened his eyes and saw narrowing golden orbs glaring with a burning rage into him.
"How dare a Maggot like you consider this-this-this treason!" She hissed as her arms jerked, pulling him forward before locking out to push him back against the offending pole that broke his nasal cartilage.
His fans flew up in his usual defense mechanism, two wide open palms to protect his face from the heat and sparks. Though Sayuri saw his quick and upwards hand movements as an offensive move and quickly swung him to the side as she stepped back, her right barefoot left the cobblestones as she lifted it to deliver a swift kick to his abdomen, Izuku's eyes refused to shut despite his fear, even managing to bend his midsection enough to avoid the direct blow but not the sweeping move she followed up with that sent him sprawling to the ground, his palms becoming scuffed as they tried to catch his fall on the rough stone ground.
Her foot pushed him over onto his back and before he could make any move to keep rolling into a stand and return to running she sat atop his stomach, her legs tight against his side and her hands forcing his own high above his head. If he weren't scared for his life he may have noticed the vaguely compromising position she had gotten him into, but as it were he could only look away as he hoped whatever was to come wouldn't hurt much.
But a physical pain never came, or none as severe as he kept expecting. The nails that dug into his chest stung of course, but were a comfort compared to his now broken nose and the flurry of fist he had grown accustomed to before. Instead he hesitantly peeked through his hands to see a shaking Sayuri atop him, her form trembling and hair having fallen over her face as she seemed to grow still from indecisiveness. Just as he prepared to utter some plea in his favor she growled with such intensity that it struck at something inside of his mind and body, the instinct of preservation. His lips tightened as refused to flap as she lifted her chin and lowered her head to stare deep into his eyes.
"Well Maggot, nothing to say for yourself?!" Sayuri's rage was as easy to see as the sun in the sky, but the surprising part was the bordering look of a face transition to sadness, "she clothed you, she fed you even at my objection to do so, she permits you out of your cage, and you rejected her kindness!"
Those words, simple things that translate so much, Izuku always did marvel at the intricacies of language and how vast they could stretch, but his fondness for such things seemed lacking at this point in time as he looked up at the sad yet angry face of what he had come to know as the calm, distant, servant girl of Mabufa, his mind instead could only focus on this situation. The situation he had fallen into after following Kaachans hair brained suggestion, the fool was in fact himself for ever considering he'd be lucky in anything!
Born in another life with a quirk, he couldn't even reincarnate correctly!
"Shut up!" He roared back at Sayuri, pushing his arms against her hold no care given to the fact that it was a futile action, "This wasn't how it was supposed to be…! I-I just wanted to be a hero."
And that's was all it took to completely befuddle the red robed beauty, her fury and sadness melting away for bewilderment, "Huh? Are you a jester all of a sudden?!"
Before Izuku could return a verbal jab or defend his honest wish, the two had their attention drawn by a gruff sounding man clearing his throat. The man was taller than Sayuri by more than a head which meant he utterly dwarfed Izuku, his biceps were wide and arms larger than seemed possible, he seemed like a living wall to the two of them as they both remained in their odd position on the town cobblestone road.
"Far be it from me to question what young lovers get up to, but if you don't want the town constable to haul you in, I'd recommend finding somewhere less public for your little spat."
The two of them said nothing as the man fixed his leather apron and turned the corner that led into the building with the deck that Izuku broke his nose on. Sayuri stood first, as was necessary to free Izuku to follow up, but her hand tightly latched onto his wrist and her eyes were narrow with the promise of pain and suffering at another escape attempt.
"You've wasted enough of our time, come let us go and do as Master—" Sayuri suddenly stops pulling Izuku along, her free hand hovering over her right hip where she finally notices a not insignificant weight has gone missing. Bad enough would it have been to lose the lent purse for the shopping trip but to have lost it and the pennies within was enough to make Sayuri wish for a swift death at the hands of the Third Star.
"Tyr's Taint!" Comes the bellowing cry from Sayuri as she throws off Izuku's hand. Her balled up fist coming over her eyes looks skyward.
"Eh? S-S-Sayuri—"
"Silence!" She refuses to hear him out, whatever it may be that he has to say she holds no interest in hearing it, whatever it may be, "First I delay my mission chasing after you, now I must locate the missing funds Lady Mabufa I trusted to me…" she stops looks skyward and lets out a long breath before her hand closes around his wrist like a manacle, "Come along Maggot. We've wasted enough time." She says pulling along a confused Izuku who watches as she takes in sporadic breaths.
The two walk along, or more accurately put, Sayuri's walks along with a less and willing Izuku in tow as she continues to swing her head side to side. The green haired boy feels his ears twitch as the whispered voices of the crowd reach him, mostly they laughed at how a young man was being pulled around by an older more commanding woman, but he picked up a few jealous hushed words and more than a handful of snide remarks about the daring nature of his guide. He assumed that his captor was too far off in her own world to focus on the common rabble around them.
"H-hey S-Sayuri-San—"
"I've neither given you permission to speak my name or speak at all. You've done enough and should bite your tongue."
And Izuku would've done just that, but being dragged along didn't leave him with much to do besides think things over, and the more he thought back to his "companions" missing purse it just compounded further into more thoughts. So he took the risk.
"Could you have just dropped it this morning before I…ran off?"
Sayuri stops dead in her tracks and sniffles, grunting as if he had suggested they search for the missing coins in the clouds. But she says nothing as she continues to pull him along back toward the area the tent is set up in, by now many of the stand owners are fully set up and well underway with the day's business. Izuku overhears them speak of the unusual bustling mid morning rush they received.
All the quiet chatter leads to nothing as they come back upon the spot claimed by Mabufa the days prior to this situation and see her sitting at a small table, discussing something with a plain looking joe schmo type. He nods along at her every word and then happily drops off what could be three dozen copper pennies onto the table as she hands over a sheathed dagger. His smile threatens to split his face as he runs off.
She turns in her seat just as Izuku and Sayuri approach her, she smiles despite the lack of supplies they have in hand.
Sayuri pulls Izuku up alongside her so they stand side by side, even if nowhere near shoulder to shoulder. She has no reservation about admitting her failure, only regrets the act of failing itself. But just as she prepares to let it be known that she has lost the coins and purse given to her, Izuku speaks first, "I ran away."
And the silence is deafening, Mabufa says nothing and Sayuri can't understand why he would choose to run away and start all this only to come clean now before she can reveal her own sin of failure. Mabufa stares at the minimal gap between them, hardly bothering to acknowledge Izuku's restrained arm.
"I-I ran away and Sayuri chased after me,"
"I could surmise as much Midoriya."
"Y-yeah, but um, w-when she did…when she did, I made her lose the money you gave her."
The pressure on his wrist grew noticeably tighter as Mabufa just continued to stare at them, the corner of her mouth rose, perhaps a fraction of an inch, before she chuckled. Her ringed hand vanished into the fold of her blue cloak and produced the very purse that Sayuri had lost.
"Sayuri, your hunter spirit seems to have gotten the better of you once again. The purse was left beside the open cage door. Go inside and make me a fresh cup of tea whilst I have a talk with Midoriya."
Izuku felt the strong grip vanish from his arms and without that it fell limply back to his side. He dared not take his eyes off the magical Mabufa as Sayuri slinked away in silence. He said nothing as her tall frame vanished past the tent flap and he remained alone before his captor. Briefly the idea of running again crossed his mind, but he banished it for the time being, fearing he wouldn't escape the reach of her powers in time.
"Tell me Midoriya, where would you have gone?"
"W-what?"
"Where Midoriya, it really shouldn't be that hard. You wanted to run away, understandable really, but where to? Somewhere personal? Far or close? Please don't say anywhere but here."
"I…"
"Or can I accurately guess that you didn't think about it. You just ran, honestly I can respect that drive to jump at an opportunity for self betterment. But a reckless idea like that would only lead to your death and my pocket book being short six gold drakes. A sorry situation for us both."
Izuku couldn't keep his shoulders from slumping, on some level he knew he had no place to go, not really. And unless the man from the desk showed up and offered him a ride back home he had no clue how to return there…if he even could. His nose twitched and his gums ached as screwed his eyes shut tight.
"I just wanted to be a hero…" The words slipped from his lips.
Mabufa rose a thin brow and hummed at that statement, it had a weight to it, perhaps at one point the boy in front of her could have yelled something like that with all his soul parts and meant it completely. But now it almost sounded like an excuse, the thing someone would say after messing up to justify it all.
The old tradeswoman messaged her temple, the morning summer heat already getting to her nerves. Her curiosity was no small thing and the boy before her seemingly held no shortage of things to inquire about. But no one could deny the fact that once a runner always a runner had a sizable grain of truth to it. She had no desire to break his legs or leash him. Such frivolities were better left to a more permanent owner than herself. The thought of keeping him aboard had come to her more than once this morning but again she discarded it.
"If you run, Sayuri will find you, a more beneficial outcome than if I track you down myself. Behave, lead a life the best you're able to now. The well of forgiveness is oftentimes the first to dry up Mr. Izuku."
And despair took the boy, anguish flooded every inch of his being…but there was no one there to tell him to dive off a school roof now. There was no one blasting a hot crackling burst of smoke in his face to damage his hearing or leave pop burns on his hands. He had to take this depressing news as it was, all of it, and stay upright. There would be no one to pick him up and despite Mafuba's words she wasn't pushing him down. But she was right, he was here, and he still had a dream.
That master snaps her fingers and Izuku punches his nose, the bent cartalodge realigning hurts almost as much as when it broke to begin with.
Sayuri chose this second to merge with the kettle and cup in hand, pouring her master a drink before extending her hand for the coins, "If you permit it I shall go and fulfill my duties now,"
"Hmm. Yes, yes, and take Midoriya with you."
"But—!" Sayuri visibly cringes as her hand slowly covers her mouth, brows twitching as she takes a second to compose herself, "Forgive me Master. If that is your will so it shall be."
Izuku says nothing and simply follows behind the red robed servant girl, plans for the future brewing in his head as Sayuri leads the way to the market, and a frowning Mabufa at his back.