About a week into college, I return!
So far, things haven't been horrible. But classes haven't ramped up yet, so I don't know how bad it'll get.
Organic chemistry is next year, though, during my second year, so I heavily doubt my capability to write anything the 2024-25 school year…
Have fun with this chapter…
-SpiritOfErebus
Depressing lunch conversations aside, something had to be done.
Like it or not, there was still a gang war on their turf. And while Ingenium began to talk with the supposed leader of the SDC, who was actually the blindfolded girl despite Hans's inaccurate guesses.
Within what was later designated their conference room, the two began to discuss terms, how to take care of their "corporation" after the other gang had been taken care of… and, most importantly, how to defeat that other gang.
While the specifics of planning an assault, obtaining their location, and other important story elements were going on inside, Iida was practicing with a metal pole as he fine-tuned his body to actually work with spear skills.
And what was Hans doing, during this obviously incredibly important scene, where the protagonists detail the plan on taking the big bad gangsters down?
Hans was sitting on a bench, bored.
The meeting had taken place in one of the apartment buildings, and given the fact that there wasn't a lot of space, well, anywhere, inside those cheap buildings, where the bare concrete stairs seemed to get dustier as they aged and the piping seemed like a tetanus hazard… it wasn't a great place to stay.
Another reason that they left the apartments for the courtyards was that Iida wanted to practice his spearmanship.
The other reason?
The thirty-something former construction workers that were off their guard duty.
Normally, they would have a slightly bigger room, or perhaps even multiple rooms, but given the fact that they had run out of money to pay for so many houses… after paying the bills for fighting inside one of the apartments after accidentally kidnapping Hans, many of those former construction workers… that worked in a sort-of-legal protection ring… were now also homeless.
And because the leaders were talking about "confidential" things, they were driven out with Hans and Iida to the little bit of bushed area below the one apartment building that they still maintained a house in, and thus could legally loiter in the very small courtyards below.
Some workers crowded Iida and congratulated him on his newfound sledgehammer prowess, much to his confusion, while a minority of the others slowly began to crowd around Hans, who, out of curiosity, attempted to gauge their narrative potential. After all, Iida was basically a … minor deuteragonist? But given the amount of side characters in this story (including him, probably), being a minor deuteragonist was pretty good.
A sheet of blue paper hovered before his glasses as he looked at the moderately rugged, previously and currently mildly malnourished twenty-somethings and the one old person in the group. The blue sparks sank to the ground and coiled around their legs, before slightly buffing everybody touched by the sparks with a small degree of healing. With this brief connection, Hans was introduced to a narrative dead zone.
There was nothing.
This place didn't exist, according to his noble phantasm. It never had existed. In fact, there was so little narrative importance here that it might as well have been the blank page at either end of the book, but even that served a more important purpose to the narrative than the people here and the land on which he was standing.
But the bench he was sitting on was real, right?
The sun's shine was real. The scratches he had almost obtained from the rusty water pipes were a definite risk.
Was his presence… expanding the world? Or the storyline? Was he trodding in completely unexplored territory?
How would unexplored narrative territory in a shounen manga's canon even work?
"Hey." one of the workers said.
Hans jumped. It was more like a depressingly minute hop than a jump as he distorted his balance on the bench, but the description and the word count that this description bought was the more important part.
"Is there something you would like to talk to me about?" Hans said, raising an eyebrow. "I was just thinking about how we might not actually exist."
"That's a… weird thing to think about." the guy said. "But, well… It's that I just wanted to say sorry, you know?"
"For what?" Hans said. "I do feel like I've heard your voice before, though…"
"Well, you see…" the man began, "I was one of the people that first accidentally kidnapped you."
Hans fell silent, and just stared at the very average construction worker.
"I know this really isn't the best thing to say to somebody that I participated in kidnaping…" he said, "But I really just want to say that I'm sorry."
"Well, did you ever consider that kidnapping what looked like a small child off the street is probably very much less than legal?" Hans asked.
"...Well, they had just killed Nagoiru. And I was just really angry against that other gang, you know? Not that you're part of it. We just thought you were part of their organization…"
"Who is this Nagoiru?" Hans asked. "I probably shouldn't have asked, but-"
"No, no, it's fine. He was… my friend. And he was the guy that was shot over there." the worker sighed, pointing at the entrance to the apartment building. The wilting cattails tied together by pieces of old string gently waved in the air.
The two sat together for a while. It wasn't the interaction between a hero-in-training and a gangster. It wasn't the interaction between two fellow impoverished people.
For a moment, it was just a talk between two people.
"We hit the construction business together, you know? He had it rough because of his quirk in school, and me? I was quirkless… so you know how that goes…"
"...Bullied until you had no motivation to keep on going to school and dropping out?"
"Yup." the workers sighed. "I probably should have stayed in school, but after I signed the wrong contract, we've been stuck under the employ of the local gang as a part of their extremely cheap construction company until those four came along."
"Those four?" Hans asked. "I'm going to assume that one of them is that blindfolded woman, and the other one is that guy that looks like a melting rock?"
"I wouldn't have put their physical descriptions like that." he sighed, "But yeah, you're right. They convinced us to rebel against the gangsters in charge by supposedly going on a strike."
"Did this happen, by any chance, near the day where villains attacked a courthouse?"
"I don't know. I don't have a phone." he said, shrugging.
Hans took out his phone and brought up the news headline about the violent labor strike. He had seen it while he was lying in a hospital bed after the whole debacle with 'villains' that were probably sent by the HPSC to stop that court case with the reformed USJ villains.
The construction worker took one look at it, and nodded.
"Yeah, I think it was that day. We didn't really pay attention to the news, though."
"You all probably had better things to pay attention to." Hans muttered.
"Yeah. Not starving is pretty tough…"
"What drove you to start working, though?" Hans said, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, like most unmotivated Japanese highschoolers, don't you all go through an otaku phase? Crashing at internet cafes and stuff?"
"A comically large amount of debt." the worker said, sighing even more.
"Really?" Hans said, lifting both his arms up. "Me too! Why else do you think I'm at a trade school?"
"...UA is not a trade school." the worker said, narrowing his eyes. "It's the dream school of japanese students everywhere! It's the pinnacle of hero education!"
"We also get decent-paying employment straight out of highschool, when we turn eighteen." Hans deadpanned. "We receive training on how to beat people up and how to restrain people while creating the least amount of property damage, and most of us forsake the opportunities to go to higher education in order to actually pay for hero school…. and because there's no reason to because UA is a trade school and we already have a profession now."
"That's a horrible way to think about it." the worker smirked. "And to think that I actually tried to work out and try out for UA…"
"It didn't work, right?" Hans said. "Let's be perfectly honest. There was no way that a quirkless kid could become a hero. Even in a story…"
"That's ominous." the worker said. "And… yeah. The way you put it does kind of get rid of the regret I had for not having harder. Heroism as a trade school… huh."
"We've been having a conversation for quite a while, haven't we?" Hans said. "What is your name, by the way?"
"Oh, my name is-"
"Aaaurgh!"
The two spun on their bench. One of the construction workers watching Iida train was punched in the back of the head by a crystallized, rainbow fist.
Almost as if in slow motion, the person who was punched in the back of the head fell to the ground limply as the crystallized fist sailed forwards,
"For the Shie Hassaikai!" the villain yelled.
In that instant, everybody shot into motion. As sledgehammers were picked up, a masked man behind the crystallized villain began to… teleport the sledgehammers into his own hands, dropping them, and then teleporting more?
As Iida lost his grip on the metal pole due to the man's quirk, he ceased trying to get into an armed fighting stance and instead just revved his engines, assessing the situation.
Behind them, more men with machetes ran into battle, their blades shining in the noon sun.
"Somebody call the heroes!"
"The heroes are already here!" one worker said, his muscles bulging. After reaching for an entire tree, he roared and ran into battle. Surprisingly, the tree did not disappear from his arms.
"Uhm, take this!" Hans yelled, snapping his fingers.
The tin soldier appeared and fell over sideways, temporarily barricading the enemy goons from the construction workers. As Hans took out his phone and prepared to dial the emergency hotline, Tensei sailed out of the windows, engines blazing but without his armor, and made a controlled descent to the ground. Pulling out two compressed bits of metal, he somehow twisted it into tubes and fitted it onto his forearms.
"What's the situation?" Tensei yelled over the constant tinking of machetes chopping at the tin soldier.
"Those goons just attacked us out of nowhere." Hans analyzed. "They shouted some sort of name of a gang, but I don't think that most normal, rational gangs would have just marched out here in broad daylight. This was an independent act from one of the low-level members."
Which meant that those people probably would want to look good in front of their bosses.
"Okay, Iida!" Tensei shouted. "With me!"
"Yes, Nii-san!" Iida said,
Which meant that this attack was really just a pre-emptive strike to try and clear out this gang.
Then, a crazy idea formed in Hans's head.
"No." Hans declared."We have to lose."
"What?" Ingenium said, surprised.
"It's the only way to bait out the actual yakuza bosses." Hans reasoned. "If they want to acknowledge our surrender after we fight our hardest, traditional Japanese yakuza would have to meet our bosses in person."
"But this doesn't work. They killed somebody just a couple days ago!" Ingenium argued.
"If they wanted us dead, they'd have brought guns." Hans said. "They clearly have guns, after all, since they shot that guy. This is just intimidation."
Slowly, the goons began to use their brains and started to climb over the metal construct, their masked faces and machetes peeking over the chipped red paint of the soldier.
"But a hero can't surrender to the Yakuza." Ingenium argued. "Besides, you all are interns. I can't risk you kids!"
"This is a calculated risk." Hans argued. "Besides, you can just be nearby and not show your face so they don't get suspicious. And we don't have time to keep arguing. I can feel the tin soldier getting destroyed."
"But what about you?" Ingenium asked. "You were literally on television last week."
"Now, now." Hans said, shaking his head. "Do you really think that gangsters would watch anything vaguely resembling education?"
"...Fair point." Ingenium said reluctantly, "I'll be waiting here, and I'll step in if something goes wrong. Watch out."
Hans nodded, before he snapped his fingers.
The tin soldier disappeared, and an icy glow began to swirl around Hans.
It was time for him to go all out… but wait, wasn't he supposed to lose? Somebody would probably have asked him after the fact.
Well, in all honesty, there was no way he was winning anyways.
Hans thrust out both his hands sideways, and roots began to blossom out of the ground, completely destroying the greenery.
He was still covered by UA during his internship, after all. They would have to grow these plants back, just like they did with the excess of plant life within their own fake cities.
…
Yu Hojo, a member of the eight expendable bullets, laughed as he punched the gigantic metal soldier that had fallen in front of them again with his crystallized fist.
"I told you this was a good idea, Setsuno!" he roared, denting the metal even more with yet another punch.
"I'm just saying that if these guys turnout to be stronger than expected, then the boss might be displeased if we fail." Setsuno said. "And that's another sledgehammer for us."
Another sledgehammer teleported into his hand.
"It doesn't matter. With our teamwork, we can overcome anything." Hojo declared, crystals shooting out of his arms in a fashion akin to a blade.
Then, a man in a scarecrow mask ran up to the soldier and took a huge bite, before recoiling back, slightly surprised, as the chunk he had bitten off dissolved into blue
"Not… food?" he muttered.
"Focus, Tabe!" Setsuno said. "As soon as we get past this barricade, we can claim victory! We can-"
The barrier disappeared, and in front of them… stood a small child in a lab coat.
With both hands outstretched and ice swirling in his grip and a robed woman floating behind him like a projection, he was what looked like the main enemy in this group.
And this probably wasn't a child. There were just people that were short these days.
The voice of the 'small child' proved Hojo right.
"You all want to muscle in on our turf?" the kid's deep voice said. "The land that we've worked so hard to control? The people that we protect under our brackets?"
"Your resolve doesn't mean anything!" Hojo roared, charging forwards. "For the man that gave us hope, for the man that gave us our dignity! For the Shie Hassakai!"
"It all comes back to hope again, huh?" the kid muttered. "Well, no matter! Be entombed… by this!"
With a flourish of the child's hands, roots sprouted from the ground, entangling the goon's legs. Immobilized, several of their machete-wielding goons were rushed by the enemy, punched and beaten until they fell unconscious. Another teenager, particularly tall, rushed in with a mobility quirk and spin-kicked several of his goons so hard that they broke free of the roots and flew out unconscious, out into the streets.
"Damn, this isn't anything that he's wearing…" Setsuno muttered, scratching his face. His eyes, slightly bloodshot, glared a at the offending figure. "Come on, Hojo, do something."
Crystals shot out of his body, and with a roar, he rushed through the wooden roots. They really weren't that much of a threat.
Water shot at him from the side, but with a bit of crystal made at his foot, he stayed on balance. He continued to barrel forwards, batting a spin kick from the teen with a speed quirk aside as he rushed in to-
A spray of ice forced him back.
Then, it was fire. The kid threw matches into the air that exploded when they hit the ground. Setsuna managed to snag one or two of them, but they quickly shattered into blue sparks before Setsuna could actually make use of them against the enemy. Hojo crystallized his whole body, before realizing that the fires… didn't hurt much, against his crystal.
Thus, with his whole body crackling, he rushed towards Hans again.
Roots and vines shot at him again, slowly growing and coiling loosely against him. Ice froze against his body as a bone-chilling sensation slowly circled around his body, tightening… and tightening… Crystals shot out of his head and his free hands, but it couldn't do much to the surrounding barriers.
"T-tabe!" Hojo groaned out.
The scarecrow-masked man rushed forwards biting into the mess of ice and roots, weakening it severely. With a flex of his muscles, Hojo broke free of the weakened coil and shook off the feeling of his cold limbs.
"You all… are no match for us. For the trust and hope invested in us by him." Hojo declared, his crystallized eyes narrowing. "Now, leave… and never return. This is our territory now."
"Well…" Hans said, slowly backing away while making complicated motions with his fingers. Slowly, in front of him, another ice-root construct began to grow from the ground.
"I still have something to say about that."
…
"...It didn't work." Hans thought, lying flat on the burnt grass.
He did try his hardest. He did everything he could. He burned through nearly everything in his mana supply.
But it still did nothing.
He wasn't supposed to win here, though. Supporting Iida wouldn't do anything to further his real goals: to negotiate the gang's surrender.
Across the field, construction workers lay. Some were sporting concussions. Some were sporting lacerations, and some had just given up, beaten up heavily and lying on the grass.
Even the mafia didn't want murder on their mind, apparently. Or else they would prove to be too large a target and be squashed by the heroes.
Which was, well, good for Hans. Because he wouldn't be dead.
He was lifted up by the head, and he looked into the crystallized eyes of the man who had just almost beaten him to a bloody pulp.
"Do you all surrender? Is this all of you?" he asked.
Iida got up once more, gritting his teeth, his engine running.
The man who lifted him up put a crystal blade to Hans's throat. Hans shook his hand below the man's field of vision, and looking at Tensei shaking his head while crouching in the forest, Iida sighed and quelled his engines. His bruised and scratched form stood still as he stared forwards, defeated.
"Meet us here then, to discuss terms." the man said. Somebody from behind the battle came up and dropped an A4 sheet of paper, before the gangsters began to pack up and leave.
As the small battalion walked away, laughing and cheering uproariously, Hans smirked.
Everything was going according to plan.
…
Everything was going according to plan.
Well, except for the fact that his underlings had acted on their own.
However, surprisingly, his eight bullets did manage to frighten the new enemy gang into submission. Without using their stockpile of guns. Which was extremely convenient.
Despite everything they had achieved, this still required punishment. After all,
"How dare you three act without orders." Chisaki said coldly. Ironically, not shouting made him more terrifying. The silence combined with his face, which was apparently naturally intimidating with the mask on, sufficiently scared his goons.
"O-overhaul-sama," the blonde one said, his hands twitching nervously.
"Setsuno." Chisaki said, shaking his head. "You know the consequences of insubordination, right?"
"But we achieved your objectives with almost no losses on our part." Hojo argued, his crystal eyes widening. It was always rather strange. You could never really tell what he was looking at with his eyes like that.
"That is why you are not dead." Chisaki said. "Insubordination aside, well done. Your contribution will not be forgotten, but you will be withdrawn from operations for several months. Go to the warehouses and work in goods transportation for a while."
"Yes, Overhaul-sama." the three said dutifully.
"And did you leave them the address to a random meeting location?" Chisaki asked.
"One of our spare warehouses, Overhaul-sama." Hojo said. "Even if they were actually undercover heroes, they wouldn't be able to locate our actual base. Nothing of value would be lost."
"How many losses?"
"Some were knocked unconscious by a boy with a mobility quirk." Hojo said. "But they were all recovered."
"Good." Chisaki said. "Send Nemoto Shin to negotiate with them. His truth quirk should allow us to determine whether or not they're actually surrendering."
"Yes, Overhaul-sama." Hojo said. "That is everything I have for today."
"Again, you all… did well." Chisaki said to the three kneeling before him. They quivered, probably because they were actually being appreciated. Not that he really did.
They were all just disposable goons.
But they didn't need to know that, right? The illusive hope he gave to them would burn until they exhausted their value.
As they bowed and left, he too left the underground conference room. Restructuring his leather sofa so that it didn't have any more creases, he sighed as he flipped off the lights.
For his hope of a stronger yakuza to come to fruition, this was merely the first step.
AN
It's been a while, huh?
Well, not that long. I've taken longer breaks from uploading. But it does feel like a while for me.
Progress is made, and Hans makes plans to find the yakuza base. Ingenium will definitely feel bad for making Hans take a beating, but it's nothing his NP can't fix.
The plot continues on.
Discord link: discord . gg / 9t9MK3jHmV
-SpiritOfErebus
