Kaito shivered, pulling his tattered jacket a little tighter against the winter chill. He didn't know who'd had the bright idea to have the meet go down in this dilapidated, broken old manufacturing plant, but he wanted to kill them. The broken windows kept letting in periodic blasts of frigid air, each of which felt like cool steel across his cheeks. He shifted on his feet, trying to force some semblance of warmth to his frozen legs, his eyes darting back and forth around the warehouse.
He didn't like these buys. It was always so damn stressful.
A gust of wind caused a few stray bolts to clatter to ground from a nearby table, and Kaito jumped at the sound, his heart hammering painfully away in his chest.
In a bid to distract himself, he checked his watch, and hissed out a curse.
"They're late," he groused, looking over to one of his partners. Akio, a lanky, bastard of a man in his mid twenties, shrugged noncommittally.
"The hell do you want me to do about it?"
"Nothing," groused Kaito, spitting a wad on the floor.
"Then quit your bitching," snapped Hana, a rough looking woman with bright pink hair and matching eyes. She shifted her casual position on a dilapidated conveyer belt, propping her feet up on a large leather case.
Kaito bit back his retort. It wasn't worth getting into an argument with the woman. Hana was the only one of the three of them that a quirk that was actually worth a damn in a fight, and he didn't want that woman using her freakish power on him again.
His eyes unconsciously darted to the darkened corner of the building, and he suppressed a shiver and unintentionally took a few steps away. But as he stepped towards the center of the room, he could have sworn, for the briefest of moments, that a shadow passed over a large processing machine. His eyes snapped over to the machine, his body tensing.
"The hell's your problem?" Akio's voice pulled Kaito's attention away from the machine.
"Nothing," he said quickly, "Just-nothing…"
"Gods you're jumpy," snorted Hana. "Would you relax already? The pros don't come here. Not enough eyeballs."
Akio's face morphed into a sinister grin, showing off his several missing teeth.
"What's the matter Kaito? Scared of the Demon of Musutafu?"
"Fuck you," Kaito snapped back,
"Maybe that's where they are." snickered Akio, stalking towards Kaito menacingly. He pulled his jacket up around his head like a makeshift cloak and stalked in a circle. "Maybe they got snatched up by the Demon!" He lunged forward and Kaito let loose a soft shriek of surprise and toppled to the ground. Akio dropped his jacket as his head reared back and he cackled in delight.
"Asshole!" Snapped Kaito, pushing himself back to his feet.
"Don't tell me you buy that bullshit," said Hana with a roll of her eyes. "Even if it's real, it's probably just some rookie pro's marketing team spreading rumors."
"More likely they got caught up by someone else," mumbled Kaito, "Heard that Nighteye has been getting more active. Hiro told me that his sidekick has been spending a lot of time around the estate."
"Doesn't matter," said Hana, "Boss has already got it all taken care of."
Kaito was about to respond, but halted when the lock of the door at the far end of the plant clicked open. Kaito dropped behind a machine, as he pulled his pistol free from his belt. Akio and Hana did likewise, with Hana pulling a tube of pink lipstick from her pocket, which she promptly began applying to her lips while she dropped the leather case to the floor.
The door opened and a trio of men in well-tailored suits swaggered into the room. The man in the rear had a large rucksack slung over his shoulder. Recognizing the men as their contacts, Kaito and the others relaxed, and left their hidden positions. The man in the lead gestured vaguely at the three and the man with the ruck dropped the sack onto a nearby table before walking back to his place behind the other two.
Hana, likewise, picked up the leather case and placed it on a table directly opposite the rucksack. Returning to her place, she looked at Kaito and gave him a brief nod. He strode forward to the ruck, as the second man of the trio matched him and walked over to the leather case. Opening the ruck revealed a plethora of automatic and semi-automatic weaponry. Exactly as ordered. Closing the ruck he glanced over his shoulder and nodded at Hana, before he turned his attention to the man examining the leather case. After a couple of moments, he closed the case and nodded in turn, to the lead man. Almost in unison, the man and Kaito retrieved their packages and marched back to their respective sides.
Without a word, the three men turned and began to leave the plant. However, they had barely taken a step when a metallic hiss shattered the quiet of the plant. From the shadows, a steel cord shot towards the three men, slamming into the leader in the back. A strange contraption gripped him around the shirt and the man let loose a scream of terror as he was violently and suddenly pulled into the darkness. It had been so quick, that they were all stunned for a moment, before the two other men leapt into action.
One pulled an automatic pistol from the waistband of his dress pants and began firing into the darkness, while the other whipped around and thrust his hand out. Yelping in surprise, Akio stumbled forward, the shot he was about to fire into the darkness missing badly, as his weapon discharged instead straight into the ground. His heart pounding, Kaito dropped the rucksack and pulled his weapon free. But his hand was shaking so badly that his two shots missed badly to the left of the man who had attacked Kaito. In turn, while pulling his own weapon free, the man flipped a nearby table and ducked behind it.
Hana quickly backpedaled away from the confrontation, before blowing a kiss in the direction of the man shooting into the darkness. A pair of ethereal, pink lips materialized and raced through the air at the man, who was too distracted to avoid the attack. The lips smashed into him, wrapping around the man and dropping him to the ground. He struggled and flailed against the binding lips, but it was of no use.
Something hissed through the air, before something slammed into Kaito's pistol, dragging the weapon clear from his grasp. Dumbfounded, he could only stare at the weapon. There was an oddly shaped metal object jutting out of the barrel of the gun. He turned to the darkness, desperate to find whatever it was that had attacked him.
"What the hell!"
Kaito whirled around just in time to see a black mass materializing from the darkness. It was like an Oni from the pits of the underworld itself. Wrapped in a cloak of darkness and shadow. Its horns were small, yet clearly visible. The Oni descended on Hana with a speed that Kaito would only have believed in the likes of Ingenium, disappearing one moment, and reappearing in front of Hana the next. Hana tried desperately to distance herself from the demon, as she brought her hands to her mouth to use her quirk, but the demon was faster. In a blur, it had smacked her hand away and its clawed fist slammed into Hana's jaw. Spittle and blood sprayed from the woman's mouth, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, as she dropped to the floor, still.
Then, like a shadow, the Oni disappeared back into the shadows only to reappear near the still hobbling Akio. The man tried to raise his gun, to defend himself, but whatever quirk the other man had used had done something to Akio's sense of perception. Instead of raising his gun to shoot up at the Oni he ducked to the ground and instead, accidentally shot himself in the foot. Akio howled in pain, just to be silenced a moment later as the Oni descended onto him.
The man behind the table rose from his cover and turned to run, firing behind him at the Oni as he did so. The monster turned, the bullets disappearing into the mass of shadows. The creature extended its arm, as an arc of electricity raced through the air. The electricity slammed into the man who screamed in pain, before dropping to the ground, his body twitching and his back smoking.
The Oni then turned its attention on Kaito. Fear consumed Kaito. His legs trembled, and his mind clouded. He turned and tried to run. Tried to escape. But it was no use. Something snapped into his back, clutching the back of his jacket and jerking him backwards. Tumbling to the ground, he clawed at the ground, at the machinery, at anything to keep him away from the monster.
But it was of no use.
The demon was atop him.
Unceremoniously, he was flipped on his back and he got his first good look at the demon. Clad in armor of black and grays, and soulless back eyes that seemed to peer through Kaito's very soul. Searching his very essence and seeing him for all of his sins. Judging him. Judging his choices and mistakes. The monster reached down, gripping Kaito and dragging him to meet the larger creature's soulless eyes. In a deep, gravely voice, it demanded only one thing:
"Where is the girl?"
Musutafu, Japan
Some Time Ago
"Izuku, sweetheart, stop fidgeting,"
"Sorry mom." He tried to stop his foot from tapping, but he couldn't help it. He was just too excited. His dad was coming home for the first time in over a year, having been working overseas. Izuku and his mother had gotten to the airport, at his insistence, two hours early. His excitement had only grown when they saw that his father's plane had finally landed and the stream of passengers had begun to flood into the baggage claim. Over the heads of the passengers there was a flash of green hair, a tall gangly frame, Izuku let out an excited yelp as he darted away from his mother and slammed into the tall, bespectacled frame of his father.
"Oof!" Grunted Hisashi Midoriya, good-naturedly, "Easy there kiddo! Twelve hours on a plane aren't great for the legs." Izuku ignored him though, and wrapped his arms a little more tightly around his middle. His father, chuckling softly, stooped over and picked Izuku up into a tight hug as Inko approached and gave her husband a soft kiss.
"Good to have you home dear," she said softly.
"Good to be home," he sighed back, before looking down at Izuku, then back to Inko as they walked over to the baggage claim. "You tell him?"
"Not yet," she giggled, "wanted it to be a surprise."
"What kind of a surprise?" Izuku asked pulling his head free from his father's neck.
"Well," said Hisashi, dropping Izuku back to the ground and hoisting his luggage from the carrousel and grabbing Izuku's hand as he led the way from the terminal. "There happens to be a certain musical playing downtown tonight." He smiled down at Izuku, "And a little birdie told me that you might have been just a little interested in going to see it."
Izuku's eyes widened. "All Might the Musical?!" He asked, positively vibrating in his father's grip.
In response, Inko pulled three tickets free from her purse.
Izuku's heart soared, and he once again latched himself around his father with an exuberant shout of delight, while simultaneously showering him in continued, unwavering gratitude.
"All right, all right," chuckled Hisashi, patting Izuku on the back, "come one, we need to get home. I for one, am starved, and I think we'll all enjoy the show on a full stomach, don't you Mr. Midoriya?"
Izuku frowned, stepping away from his father. What had his father just say?
"Mr. Midoriya?"
His vision distorted, the images of his mother and father fading away slowly.
"Mr. Midoriya!"
Izuku jolted awake in his seat, his vision bleary. The young woman to his right barely suppressed a snicker and as his vision began to clear, he could finally make out the short man at the head of the room as he glared at Izuku.
"How kind of you to join us Mr. Midoriya," sighed Tanaka, "I hope my lecture wasn't too much of an inconvenience for your nap. While you were busy resting, the rest of us were learning about expression values."
Izuku shrunk down in his seat, averting his gaze and muttering out an apology.
Sighing once more, Tanaka glanced at the clock. "Unfortunately, that is all we have time for today. Finish the modules in your portal and take the quiz by Friday. I'll see you all next week." The room was thus filled with sound of scrapping chairs and chattering students. Izuku quickly stowed his belongings away in his bag, doing his best to ignore the whispers and glances his direction. But as he made to scoot past Tanaka's desk with the throng of outgoing students, the professor stopped him.
"Mr. Midoriya…a moment?" Biting back a sigh, Izuku nodded and retreated back to the desk. When the last student had filed out of the room, closing the door with a meaningful look behind him, Tanaka turned his attention back to Izuku.
"Look, professor-" Izuku began to explain,
"Mr. Midoriya," sighed Tanaka, "I am…familiar with your situation, and believe me that you do have my sympathies. I know you have been through…more than anyone your age should, but I'm afraid it is of no excuse anymore." He gestured vaguely at the door. "The second you stepped through those doors you became an adult in the eyes of the world. I understand that it must be a difficult adjustment, given you're considerably younger than the rest of your compatriots, but that is precisely what concerns me."
Izuku bit the rise of anxiety and agitation that swelled up. Tanaka's expression softened and he leaned forward on the desk.
"Mr. Midoriya, I understand that you may feel some…obligations towards your parents. But it is not a shame to admit that you are not emotionally ready yet for university. You should be in high school, socializing with others your own age."
Izuku's teeth ground together, but he held his tongue.
"And I know that it can be hard for someone without a quirk, but don't you think your parents would have wanted you to be try and be happy?"
Izuku's expression cooled, "I'll never know what they would have wanted," he said tonelessly. Tanaka started and then flushed, averting his eyes to the stacks of papers on his desk as the room fell silent.
"May I please be excused, professor?" Izuku finally asked.
"Yes-yes, that…that is all, Mr. Midoriya."
Izuku nodded, and reached to the ground to grab his backpack.
"2^32"
"I'm sorry?" Asked Professor Tanaka, looking up from his papers.
"The answer," supplied Izuku, gesturing with his head to the board, "It's 2^32," and without another word, he turned on his heel and strode from the building. His hands balled into tight fists as he stormed from the building and onto the campus. What the hell did Tanaka know about him? Know about his stress? Or about what was best for him? He was more than aware that three majors was a lot. That his insane workload, on top of his own individual studying out of class was a lot. But had he not scored in the top percentile on the midterm? Had he not proven that he was more than capable of keeping up with his peers? It didn't matter that he was only fifteen. No one else in his class was triple majoring, let alone triple majoring in wholly unrelated fields. Though he supposed criminal justice and psychology did have some useful overlaps, though neither was particularly useful in conjunction with a computer sciences degree.
At least not in conventional employment at any rate.
Still, he was near the top of scorers in all of his classes, and in spite of his heavy workload, and his potential propensity to fall asleep in class, he was managing. He was managing, and it was none of the damn business of some first year associate professor to try and play social worker.
Not with him.
He did his best to control his flaring temper, as he settled onto sidewalk back to the school dorms. Taking a deep breathe he began counting backwards from ten like his social worker had taught him. By the time he'd gotten within a couple of blocks of the dorms, his anger had subsided as he wafted into an almost zen-like state of tranquility.
But his peace didn't last long, as his emotions flared up once more, but with greater force. A crowd had gathered near an intersection, many with their phones out as they videotaped something going on a couple of blocks down the road. Not a moment later, as he came more fully out of his zen-like state, he became aware of the sound of fighting.
Heroes.
He didn't bother looking down the street towards the commotion, but as he walked he heard some of the chatter of the passersby.
"That's that new guy right, Endeavor?"
"Yeah, I remember seeing him at the Sports Festival, guy's quirk is crazy powerful!"
"Woah, he's really thrashing that villain!"
"Kick his ass man!"
Izuku's scowled deepened and he pushed his way through the crowd before finally making it the last couple of blocks to the dorms. Slipping inside, he was relieved to see that his roommate was still in class. Kira was nice enough, but he could be grating. The dorm, or at least Izuku's half, was spartan. Only the bare essentials that had come with the room; a desk where his dual monitor sat, a small television, a bed, and a small lamp. The only adornment lay on the corner of the desk. A framed picture of his mother and father, taken when Izuku was nine. The familiar feelings of dread, rage, and overwhelming sadness threatened to overwhelm him, but after a repeat of his breathing exercises, he managed to relax. Maneuvering around the set of dumbbells by the desk, he quickly deposited his backpack on his bed.
Hefting himself into his desk chair, he absently flicked on the television as he booted up his computer. The mindless dribble of the local news network rambled in the background, something about rumors that All Might possibly planning a return to Japan, which Izuku promptly ignored. Instead he focused his attention on his computer. Pulling up his online trading profile, he smiled. His recent stock acquisitions were doing well. Pulling up on his second monitor a report on the western markets, he scanned the contents of the report for a moment before his smile widened. His gamble on a recent up and coming support company, Horizon Might, in California had paid off. He'd noticed an annual growth rate over the last three years of fifteen percent, rather impressive by any measure. Quickly selling off his acquisitions, he pulled up his balance sheet and hummed. Still several million yen off of his goal, but that was acceptable. Given his current rate of growth, he would be able to reach his goal by the time he graduated.
He spent the next hour adjusting his profile, making trades, and analyzing market reports. With that done, he focused on his next task. Opening a lower drawer in the desk, he retrieved a small notebook. Flipping through the notebook to a blank page, he turned back to his computer, and began running searches on qualified acting instructors. After finding nothing satisfactory in Japan, he broadened his scope before finding something that appeared promising. Brennan Leary in the United Kingdom, one of the preeminent teachers at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts was reaching retirement age. A recent article on the man indicated that he believed that when his current class graduated, he would retire. That worked out perfectly for what Izuku would need him for. Jotting the man's name down in the book, along with a couple of notes and thoughts, he ran another search. This time, looking for French free-runners. And so it went. He found bounty hunters. Marksmen. Detectives and professional animal trackers. It was something of a thought exercise, but also practical.
He was tempted to simply take his trade winnings and begin early. But he couldn't do that. Not yet. Moving too soon could lead to derailment of the mission sometime later down the road, and he had sworn to himself that he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the mission. The mission came first. Firstly. Lastly. Always.
He owed his parents that much.
Thus, he would wait. He would wait, and until he could train his body, he would instead, train his mind.
AN: Shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week
All My Love,
LilDB