Quirks not Required

X: Eight Precepts of Whom Now?

"Ah, Daiten-kun, I can't say that this isn't a pleasure...What can I do for you?" Rumbled AFO, his friend's successor seemed to be in more of an irate temper than usual.

"Nighteye, sniffing around my atrophied ass-crack. He's trying to get me to confess that the supplier I get my supplies to do my fucking job got raided. Doesn't help that the sycophantic ass-licker of All Might has a raging hard-on for being a quirkist shit. I don't suppose you'd know ram raided the company? It'd be the best gift wrapped in dog-shit I could give him."

AFO snorted "You really dislike this gentleman don't you."

"Straight up threatening me on something other than sheer fucking co-incidence is something I will not stand for. The gall of him to accuse me when he's got nothing other than my name from a supplier. If it were anyone else I'd have them become Nomu; but I have no intention of screwing with him in case All Might comes crashing down on me like All Might. Don't lie, I can tell you dislike All Might."

"Mainly because he did this to me."

Kato stopped "You're fucking shitting me...All Might's the one the erased for face? The pace he must have had to accomplish must have rivalled something out of well…fantasy games."

"My little brothers quirk."

Kato let out a pinched breath "Shot in the dark; you had a quirk, he didn't. Being the elder brother in a brown-pants wettingly terrifying environment you gave him a quirk, but he had a quirk. They fused, he stood up to you; he ended up dying and it got punted through history until All Might took your face off. Let me guess you're wanting to do the 'remain dead until your successor is ready' gag."

"That's about right."

"Don't tell your successor but I think I've found the one destined to defeat him. He's already making me feel like I can't trust him, so I'm interested in keeping this tidbit between us; call it...character growth."

AFO chuckled. Kato Daiten was proving to be extremely entertaining, he moved over to Kato's shoulder when the young adult placed a few flakes of dried blood into a solution. "What have you got there?"

"Blood...containing Quirk Alpha particles. Again; nothing new. But what is rather interesting is whom the blood and the quirk belongs to. The quirk is dubbed 'explosion'; unfortunately wielded by a rather temper-tantrum wracked young man with an inferiority and superiority complex that makes Shimura Tenko's seem small…You're good AFO; but there are small bits and pieces that could unravel your plan. I'm not exactly going to tell heroes about you. They think I organised the killing of my former peers."

"You did though."

"But how can they prove it? Everything I've said could and would easily be dismissed as quirk-envy, the pitiful whinings and moanings of a dying species; besides its he-said, she-said. Yes I'm carrying a bombshell of circumstantial evidence but no-one's got enough to lay the blame on me. Anyway; that's the three quirk-samples uploaded that I needed shot off. Explosions, Electricity and Lipid Manipulation."

"Hopefully not together?"

"Hell no. Anyway, I have a job to do."

With that Kato turned to his six Nomu creations and the five dummy shells of his peers "Now, let's have you turn up. One at a time, it seems that Cerebral Quirk and Cerebral Programming technology is finally ready for a test run…Sensei's good, but we need to put in a little bit of shock and horror. I mean quirks are still trying to be understood after all and I'm pretty sure that everyone will celebrate the idea of bringing loved ones back from the dead." Kato murmured as he modified the dummies "Nothing personal to your loved ones, unfortunately for science, sacrifices must be made."

With the corrections made, Kato remained just long enough to see the shells jerk to life; then Johnny, a minor nomu that reminded Kato of something much more intelligent, quickly warped them away. "Kato, dare I ask?" Garaki asked.

"Call it…a little bit of mass hysteria. They've been gone for three weeks, anyway...they'll return. They'll remember stuff but not much; anything they do remember will be incomprehensible; but when exposed to certain frequencies say...TV."

Garaki flinched a little bit; as depraved he might be, there was something off about his apprentice; but he did have a good sense of macabre humour. This next stunt should be entertaining.

Kato left the hospital a few hours later, as he waited, he hadn't anticipated the black pickup truck to screech in front of him; four men to jump out, two to get him into the truck and two for his wheelchair. He vaguely remembered a syringe being driven into his neck.

He slowly found himself waking up "My sincerest…" Began a diminutive pipsqueak of an entity.

"How about you go fuck yourself. You abducted me right off the street whilst I was waiting for my ride. Who do you represent shortstuff; because the size you are I'd like to put you in my can compressor."

"How about you mind your manners. You've been chosen by the greatest revolutionary of common times. I'm Irinaka Joi, Mimic, and I'm the General Manager of the Shie Hassaikai."

"General Manager of a pre-quirked metal band? Honestly, good name."

Mimic's eye sockets narrowed "Are you mocking the Young Master and the Shie Hassaikai?"

Kato's eyes narrowed "Yes. Evidently I have something that you want, judging by the fact that you abducted me. Now, tell me what you want or let me go."

There conversation was cut off when the door opened, Mimic jumped to his feet. "Master Chisaki."

"Chisaki, I'd stand but my legs don't work and I'm currently tied up."

There was a scoff "Understandable. I want you to work for me, I've heard from my friends and sources that you're linked to some interesting pharmaceutical companies."

"If this is a coercion technique it requires work. Currently, I have no incentive to work with or for you; aside from my life being cut short. You hold the cards, but I'm not interested."

Chisaki growled beneath his mask "We could make your life very...difficult."

"My life is difficult. Just who or what are the Shie Hassaikai? I'd like to at least know whom I'm conversing with and considering your General Manager has the shittiest bedside manner ever. More intent on ramming the agenda down my throat like a needy whore wanting head."

Chisaki growled, the thought of execution was beginning to formulate. Kato smirked, he saw that look in his eyes just before he created his first Nomu "I wouldn't."

"I wouldn't what?"

"Executing me. I wouldn't bother, by the nature of my family...it's not in your interests. Your name, Shie Hassaikai, has come up in my house that's one thing, furthermore, if I don't arrive home soon or answer my phone, my significant other will start pulling heroes from their beds and turn Japan upside down to find me."

Chisaki stilled "You're related to heroes…"

"Sleeping with one as well."

Just then another man dressed akin to Chisaki, with a mask, but resembling something more akin to a Plague Doctor opened his mouth. "How can we trust you're not trying to play us?"

"You can't. But look at the fucking room, I can't fucking move."

"Are you lying to us?"

"Only if you think I am."

The man stopped using his quirk "How...no-one's able to figure out my quirk."

Kato smiled "Fuck you, that's how. I apologise that was unprofessional of me but I've always wanted to say that. Look, I can't say I want to work for you but I might be able to help you…providing you give me an express ride to a specific destination."

Chisaki sighed, the doctor would come around. Perhaps another hit on one of his suppliers would be useful. "Drug him and drop outside the bar he frequents; also, call his cab company and send him home." With that Kato knew no more.

(Midnight) Nemuri seldomly got worried about Daiten Kato. She knew he might have the tendency to be a bit abrasive; unwilling to co-operate with heroes and she completely understood that. But when he didn't arrive home at 18:30pm and she hadn't received a text message; she had gotten slightly concerned.

At exactly 19:15pm she picked up the phone and began dialling UA, upon finding out Kato wasn't passed out asleep there; she'd called the Hospital. He'd clocked out at the usual time, however they had mentioned a black truck.

Kayama Nemuri had just spent a further fifteen minutes yelling at an unsympathetic police officer, the moment she'd said quirkless the officer had become less enthusiastic. She hung up in disgust; she knew that being quirkless was tough these days but she hadn't anticipated this. "If this is what society has become; it's a miracle that none of the remaining quirkless…" She paused.

Was her lover planning to overthrow the status quo. Despite having to stop him publicly, she'd carry on his work. Her hands drifted to her bulging stomach, it wasn't going to be long. A December or January child. They were going to have a boy, Nemuri sighed, she didn't like the fact that Kato didn't want to know.

"I hope you're okay." Nemuri murmured when her phone illuminated in red and blue flashing lights.

"Neji!"

"Kayama! I've got him! He's out of it, looks like he's overindulged. I'll be at your residence in five minutes."

Nemuri grinned "How much do I owe you?"

"I...want to surprise my fiance. She's pointed out there's…"

Midnight nodded, one of her supplementary incomes aside from being a Pro Hero were from UA, as a Teacher; and merchandise endorsements. One of hers was subsequently an endorsement from a former sidekick who entered the fragrance industry. Midnight was secretly one of the wealthier heroines in the industry.

"I know the one you mean. I've got one on hand, it's yours once my fiance gets in the door."

Neji hung up and within five minutes, Neji arrived carrying Kato. Kato was deposited onto the couch, before he returned again with the wheelchair "Is he okay? I mean he looked really, really bad when I found him."

"I have no idea; the police were less than helpful when it came to finding him."

Neji's eyes narrowed "He's quirkless? I've no problems with it. He's a good man. Kayama, I'll see you around and...thanks."

For the second time Kato found himself disorientated "Are you alright? Kato-kun?"

"No...Second time I've been drugged. Fucking Death Plague cosplay knock-offs; stupid impulsive little shit Chisaki. I'm going to take great, great pleasure in rendering you and yours into squealing chunks of meat."

Nemuri's eyes widened "Kato, slow down. What happened."

"Finished work, waiting for Neji. Black van/truck, didn't catch the plates probably stolen; pulls up, either a guy with dwarfism with a festish of latex and 17th Century Medicine or a quirk. Anyway I got drugged and found myself the esteemed guest of a bunch of wankers by the name Eight Precepts. They wanted me to work for them. I refused practically out of hand, they then threatened me, then you guys. I was drugged again and then I was here."

Nemuri's eyes widened "The Eight Precepts is also known as the Eight Precepts of Death; a Yakuza group. What did they need you for?"

"Chemicals and lab-tech...most likely. They didn't tell me more."

Nemuri sighed "You do realise that Nighteye is going to want to know about this."

"I do. I'll write it down, then drop it in his office. I'm not going on record."

"He's going to insist."

"He can take his insisting nature and ram it up his salesman attired ass. He should be fucking grateful I'm even giving him this information."

Nemuri nodded "If he phrases it correctly would you volunteer giving him information?"

"Naturally."

Nemuri paused "It's not the fact you dislike heroes, aside from Endeavour, is it. It's rather heroes inability to do anything other than bark orders and make demands of others."

Kato nodded "In fact it applies to most people I've found since I was found quirkless. The only reason I think I've not been encouraged to leave my job is because I'm bloody good at it."

Nemuri smiled "Please...play nice with Nighteye. I'll ensure he remains on task."

Kato smiled, sometimes it pays to have Heroes on your side.