He had no time to think. There was no time to weigh and consider his options, and think about what would be wiser. Deny, or rise to meet it. No time. Say something, now.
"Shouta," Aizawa corrected, and made his brows furrow in. "I apologize, Yaoyorozu-san, I'm…not sure what's brought you here."
He hadn't gotten far enough in the recording for this and he would've really fucking appreciated a fucking heads up, and behind the half-shut door his fist clenched. Saito. The meddling son of a bitch.
Their attempts at being cordial had rapidly cooled; Aizawa had no interest in Saito's quirk-related endeavors. His syndicate brought in money the good, old fashioned way — gambling, women, drugs. He'd begun to allow some dabbling with street racing, but it was not a reliable income stream yet. He'd decided the less that he did with quirks, the better. There was no such thing right now as too much distance between him and Heroes. Examples of why this needed to be the cases included Exhibit A, Yaoyorozu Momo.
And Exhibit fucking B, Yaoyorozu Asao.
Aizawa knew his lack of interest in playing Saito's game had put him on the Scandinavian's shit list. But the syndicates of Musutafu coexisted among each other because of mutual respect for each other's boundaries. 'Don't start none, won't be none' was what he'd been brought up under. He picked his battles. It's how he'd come so far. He wasn't going to let some blond prick make him trip now.
Navigating this, though, Saito's latest aggression was…
"Do you want to have this conversation with me outside your door?" Yaoyorozu asked, looking every bit stocky bulldog on the other side of the chain.
"I don't know what you want to talk about," Aizawa iterated. "If this is about your daughter's letter…"
"You want to bring up my daughter? Do you want me to get her involved in this conversation?" Yaoyorozu demanded. "After your thugs kidnapped her?"
A muscle flexed in Aizawa's jaw, and there was a moment of silence as he shut the door an inch to undo the security chain. He stood back to one side as Yaoyorozu came in.
Momo's father didn't look around with the curious, roving interest his daughter had. No, his inspection was deliberate. Aizawa shut the door and stood back, silent, as Yaoyorozu Asao walked a lap around his small living room. Aizawa's eyes followed him, analyzing him as his environment was analyzed in return.
"Let's talk," Yaoyorozu Asao said at last, and took a standard issue Nambu out and laid it on the coffee table. His cellphone followed, with Hero cuffs a moment behind. He shrugged out of his jacket next and set it aside.
Yaoyorozu held his hands in front of him, palms open, and Aizawa chewed on his options. He'd denied, and Yaoyorozu hadn't bought it for even a moment. Alright then.
"Arms out."
He didn't expect Yaoyorozu to comply. He was the one here with the leverage, with the ammunition. Yaoyorozu Asao could have stood firm with a harsh "No" and Aizawa would've been up shit creek. But, Yaoyorozu did it. He raised his arms. Aizawa patted him down, hands checking for anything of detriment. Weapons. Wires. The short of shit that made Yakuza break out in a case of handcuffs. He found his wallet and tossed it down with the gun. After he checked Momo's father, he picked up the suit jacket and slid his hands in each of its pockets and down its seams.
"Let's talk," Aizawa agreed at last. He pointed Yaoyorozu to the armchair. "Cigarette?"
"Sure. How much did you lie to me about," Yaoyorozu asked, settling in and lacing his fingers together. "And how much does my daughter know."
Aizawa reached into a drawer to pull out a fresh pack, buying himself time as he tapped the carton into his palm. He extended it in Yaoyorozu's direction, and the man pulled a cig out, followed by his own lighter. Aizawa lowered himself onto his couch, in front of his closed laptop, as he put a cigarette for himself between his lips.
If they were going to do this, if they were really going to have this talk, it would not be with Eraser Head. If Yaoyorozu wanted to know who he was, what he was made of, it would be with the man he'd come here looking for.
Danchou.
"First, about what I know. I know you're laundering money for Saito Ren and liquidating his assets overseas to avoid the courts taking collateral. You are still working, closely, with Kenici Minato. You helped him out with the Hosu City attacks."
Yaoyorozu had a poker face with the best of them. He kept his reaction cloaked, cards tight to his chest, as he listened to the short laundry list of his sins. As Aizawa dropped his mask. Earlier thoughts of flight were gone. No matter what Saito Ren had said, he knew enough about Yaoyorozu Asao to keep danger at arm's length. If he was meant to go down, he could take every enemy with him.
"Now, with that out of the way…I was under the impression Yaoyorozu hadn't told you about being abducted," Aizawa said, voice muffled as he lit his cigarette, balancing it between his lips.
"Tanaka did me the courtesy of letting me know my daughter filed a report," Yaoyorozu said, leaning back. The trail of silver-gray smoke was flimsy ribbon in the air. "She did what she should have in filing a report, and if she wanted me to know or wanted my help she'd have told me. I want her to be capable and independent, and to make her own decisions — those decisions won't always involve me.
"Momo's report was detailed, as you can imagine," her father continued. "Word by word, I'm willing to bet."
"Hm."
"How much does she know?"
Sitting across from her father, Aizawa weighed his karma before responding.
"She knows everything."
The breath Yaoyorozu let go would have put a lesser man on his back. All his shock and anger purged from his body in one blast. He dragged a hand down over his face, features stretching.
"What the fuck is everything?" Yaoyorozu demanded.
"You'll watch how you speak to me on my land," Aizawa said, clear warning. The last Yaoyorozu would get. "Your daughter realized, weeks later through coincidence, that I was Danchou. I do not know how long she did it for, but she tailed me to gather evidence. The night at the club, I saw her. The video was when I chased her down and cornered her, and gave her the ultimatum to turn me in or to keep her mouth shut."
"Momo has known…this whole time?"
"And she's kept it to herself." A shot in the dark now. "You're really going to let her ruin herself trying to be a Hero? You, of all people."
"It's what she wants," Yaoyorozu said, exhaling.
"You and I, we both know — we've both stood with a foot on either side of the line — what being a Hero really is like nowadays. Yaoyorozu doesn't want the cameras and glory. Other Heroes will eat her alive and take her credit."
"It's what she wants."
"You sure?" Aizawa dared let himself ask, and he paused to take a long drag. It fumed with his words as he went on; "She's got the grit to do other things."
"Of course she does," Yaoyorozu said. He scoffed. "I didn't raise my child to be a rat. But it's better if she doesn't."
"Better for her, or better for you?"
Yaoyorozu's face darkened with anger, and Aizawa locked eyes with him in a blatant challenge. Daring him. Fuck with me in my own house. Do it. If Yaoyorozu knew enough about Danchou, he'd know better than to loose his tongue.
"So what do you want, Yaoyorozu," Aizawa asked, not backing down. "You come to my home and want to get all the skeletons out of our closets. Why."
"To clear the air. To apologize. To show my gratitude." Yaoyorozu's words caught Aizawa off-guard entirely, and he leaned back a bit. "In the past I have behaved toward you in a way I would not have, had I known the truth."
Yaoyorozu got to his feet, hands smoothing down the front of his suit before he dropped both arms to his sides and bowed low, gaze down.
"I am sorry. Momo will still be transferring from UA." He straightened his back. "In the interest of honesty, however, if I knew then what I know now, I would have been more accommodating to the idea of her remaining at UA."
"Why's that?" Aizawa asked.
"We both know Heroes, even the most garish, would die to save someone. But you have killed to protect her. I…will keep in confidence the way my daughter has. So long as you swear to me you'll defend her. To every last breath."
It was something he'd long intended anyway. Goro was still at large, All For One had a taste of what Momo was capable of. The girl might have more enemies than even he did. She…meant someone to him now. And he would fight for her every step of the way, follow her into any dark place — but it was silent resolve. The universe wanted him to speak it aloud. To make it true and accountable to someone besides his own conscience.
"I swear."