Izuku was something of an anxious sort.
It was just who he was.
Apparently, most of his relatives on his mother's side of the family were naturally skittish.
This often led to them being made targets of the more assertive people around them.
"Still got your head in the clouds, Deku? Tryin' to be a hero?"
Going by his own experience, he could understand where that came from.
He placed several cups of tea down on the living room table.
"Um, sorry if you don't like it. We-um, we weren't expecting guests today, so we… don't have a lot of variety."
From their spot on his couch, the men in black waved him off, conciliatory in response to his worries.
"Please, don't worry about that. We're the ones imposing at the moment. That you've offered us anything is too kind."
The one who spoke up was likely the leader of the three.
He was a severe looking man with a squared jaw and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, his most defining feature being his well-kept chops.
His expression was serious, but his tone was kind.
Izuku was still scared out of his wits as he sat down in the armchair across from them.
The Execution Devil was there.
Quiet, but there. Sat on the arm of Izuku's chair.
The greenette didn't know if he was comforted or disconcerted by the fact that he wasn't alone with the three strange men in his home.
"Let's get one thing straight, I don't care if you see me as a friend or not. First and foremost, we're contractor and contracted. I'll help you to keep my end of the bargain, so long as you keep yours."
He leaned on the side of disconcert.
There was a pregnant pause.
The two extra men in black sipped their tea.
Izuku tapped his finger on his knee, eyes slowly scanning the trio across from him.
Chops cleared his throat.
"Right, well, as I was saying before, we're here to speak with you about the devil that you made a contract with last night."
The greenette swallowed down the spit that had pooled in his mouth.
That was indeed what was said.
And it was the reason why the three strange men were in his house, drinking his tea.
His tie felt really tight for some reason.
Chops, making no mention of the young lad's discomfort, continued.
"We want you to know that you're not in trouble. We're actually here to check on you and…" he paused for a moment, likely attempting to step lightly with the next few words he was getting ready to say, "make you an offer. Well, two offers, actually."
Izuku was uncomfortable.
In the corner of his eye, he could see the Execution Devil watching the conversation with… well, he honestly didn't know to gauge what the devil feeling.
"R-right, I… have no idea what that means."
He was uncomfortable with the situation so he chose the response that he was most comfortable with.
Firm denial and feigned ignorance.
If he was lucky, he could stonewall them to such a degree that they'd get fed up and leave him be.
"A sound plan."
It's not, it's just the only one I've got.
Chops looked at him for a moment, clearly unimpressed.
Izuku looked back, willing all of the sweat that he could feel at his crown not to drop.
It felt almost like a game.
A staring contest between two strangers; one terrified, the other terrifying.
"..."
"..."
When the older man broke the stare, Izuku wondered if he'd won or lost.
"Midoriya-kun. I have a question that I'd like you to answer honestly-"
When the older man broke the silence, reaching into his coat pocket and retrieving a smartphone, Izuku had the strangest inkling-
"Does the name 'Kota' sound familiar to you?"
-that he had no idea what the guy was on about.
"Kota?"
"Mm. Does that name sound familiar to you?"
"…No?"
It came out as a question, but Izuku legitimately did not remember anything having to do with that name.
Chops hummed, sliding his finger across and tapping the phone's screen a couple times.
After that, he turned the screen to face the greenette, who leaned in instinctively to get a better view of what he was being shown.
On the screen was a child, likely kindergarten age or a bit older, but there was something that caught Izuku's eye the moment he looked at the picture.
A strange, horned cap.
"I'm Izuku, what's your name?"
"K-Kota."
"Kota-kun…?"
He'd completely forgotten about the boy that he saved, what with the whole 'learning about the existence of devils and fighting for his life' thing that had occurred.
Is he okay? I forgot to ask about him.
"Ah, so you do know him."
"Huh?"
"This boy, Kota-kun. Who swore up and down that you were there and got hurt when the two of you were crossing the street."
Izuku's breath caught as he realized his mistake.
He had lied, and mere moments after he had lied, he had been caught in his lie.
"You're quite terrible at this."
I know.
Chops put the phone back into his pocket.
"So what say I talk and you listen? I have a feeling that you want us out of here as soon as humanly possible."
Izuku nodded.
"Well, first off, I apologize for being rude. I haven't introduced myself or my associates yet."
Chops reached into his other coat pocket and retrieved a small card, which he presented to Izuku.
Hachiman Namimaru
Tokyo Public Safety
First Division
"Public Safety?"
Namimaru nodded.
"We're often overshadowed by the Hero Public Safety Commision, but we have our own jobs to do as well."
"-we'd like to speak with you about the devil that you made a contract with last night."
"Jobs that involve… devils?"
"That's right. We're devil hunters by trade. A preventative measure, if you would, to ensure that the world at large doesn't learn about devils as a whole."
Izuku could see the Execution Devil raise an eyebrow at this.
Namimaru continued.
"We were tracking the Drill Devil underground up until last night, where we intended to exterminate it. Unfortunately, its movements became erratic and we couldn't catch it before it hit street level and caused havoc, which you… experienced firsthand."
He laid, growing colder and colder on cracked and ruptured concrete; his ringing ears barely registering the ruckus around him.
The screams of terrified pedestrians.
The whirring of a massive drill.
'Experienced' was a way to put it.
"Once again, I'd like to apologize. This time, for inadvertently getting you involved in our mess. Kota-kun told us what happened."
Kota definitely made it to the sidewalk, landing a bit rougher than Izuku intended, but otherwise unscathed-
WHIIIIIIIRRRRRR!
-and wide-eyed in horror as Izuku's world erupted into one of pain and red.
"It's… okay."
It wasn't, but he had to deal.
Namimaru gave him a smile.
It was as scary as his neutral look.
"You're the one who took care of the Drill Devil after it broke through. We've seen traffic cam footage to confirm. It was blurry, but facial recognition software is so common, it might as well be an app on every smartphone. From there, finding things out about you was practically child's play."
The man pulled out his phone again, tapping on the screen once more before clearing.
"Ahem. Izuku Midoriya, age thirteen, but you'll be fourteen in a little less than a month's time. Your father and mother are both part of the workforce, and as of last year, officially divorced. You're in your second year at Soumei Private Academy, where your grades are rather high, though you're not very physically adept. To be completely honest, you're a very normal young man. With your one… abnormality being your Quirklessness."
Izuku kept his mouth shut.
He knew that this was leading up to something.
"Which is why it was so peculiar to see you on camera as you were last night. Moving the way you were, and completely whole, aside from a nasty scar, at that. You don't seem like a fiend to us."
What's a fiend?
Izuku asked this question to the still-observing devil.
"A corpse possessed by a devil."
So, that's me, isn't it?
"No. You're a special case."
Right.
He tuned back in from his sidebar to the main conversation.
"-you seem highly rational. And your nervousness right now seems to come from your regular disposition and the fact that we're strangers who have effectively cornered you at your home. All things considered, it's rather understandable. But even so, this is a question that needs to be asked: What devil asked you to make a contract with it?"
"..."
He was sweating.
He looked at the Execution Devil.
It was acting the same as it was before.
Suffice to say, Izuku had no allies in this situation.
He reached up to adjust his tie, he felt like he was choking.
Should he lie?
Tell the truth?
He honestly didn't know which would make the situation worse.
Staying quiet was hell, but he knew that whatever he said had the potential to turn his living room into a bloodbath.
Whose blood? He wasn't sure. Either way, it wouldn't be pretty.
"Midoriya-kun?"
He had to answer. He had to say something and say it then.
The next words out of his mouth felt like molten lead balls as he forced them up.
"It's-"
"It was an absolute scorcher out there today, wasn't it?"
"Mm."
Dinner that night was seafood pasta.
He could tell that his mom wasn't used to the western style dish, but overall it came out well enough, he thought.
"So how was school?"
I didn't go.
"It was fine."
There was a message on the answering machine from his homeroom teacher.
He had deleted it before she got home.
"Are you keeping up with your studies?"
"I am."
"Have you maybe… reconsid-?"
"No."
He wasn't normally rude enough to cut someone off while they were speaking, but he and his mother had had the same conversation a hundred times at a hundred dinners.
After the day that he'd just had, the thought of even entertaining the idea displeased him.
That said, he didn't snap at the woman across from him.
She treated him well. She was just worried. He could appreciate that.
Seeing that that conversation wasn't going to go anywhere, the woman quickly shifted tacts.
"So, did anything interesting happen today?"
"I…"
Met a devil, threw up in a train station sink, found a devil in an alley, killed it, and got found by an not-quite-secret organization that kills devils.
As if he could say any of that.
But what could he say?
"Excuse me."
He thought of a white sundress and the pretty girl that he remembered seeing in it.
"…Talked to a girl today. On the way to school. She was nice."
His mother smiled, but Izuku could see dark circles where her eyes crinkled slightly.
And he hadn't noticed before, but her face seemed a bit thinner as well.
"That sounds lovely. Did you get her name?"
"Um, no…"
"…Oh."
"It's a secret. I can't tell anyone any specific details about it."
"That's a lie."
Izuku ignored the devil's comment, focusing instead on the trio of Public Safety members across from him.
It wasn't a lie.
He had only learned the broad implications of the contract earlier that day.
He didn't know the specifics, therefore, he couldn't tell anyone the specific details.
Not a lie- a half truth.
Namimaru looked at him intently, likely trying to sort through the crock of shit that Izuku had just fed him.
Though, much like Izuku expected, the older man couldn't find untruths in his statement, as there were no untruths to be found.
"Mm. Very well. Are there any broad details that you can give us then?"
Izuku nodded.
"I don't have to hurt innocent people, and I'm in full control of myself."
That's right? Right?
It is.
Okay. Thank you.
"Aside from that, I can use its power for a price."
"That price being?"
"…Flesh and blood. M-my own. I don't have to sacrifice anyone for it!"
"Don't worry, we would have assumed so."
Namimaru put up a hand and waved off the boy's worries.
He took a sip of his likely lukewarm tea and then took a breath before speaking again.
"Well, seeing as you have what seems to be a somewhat breathable contract, that brings my other object of the day on to the table."
He did mention that he had a question and an offer.
Two offers, even.
"Um, okay. What is it?"
"What do you say-?"
"What do you have to say for yourself, Midoriya-kun?"
Homeroom the next day was… just about the same as any other day.
Bored spectral devil and light chastisement from his homeroom teacher aside, of course.
"Sorry, sensei. I had some kind of bug that came and went. I didn't want to risk getting anyone sick, so I stayed home. My mom had already left for work by the time the worst of it came on. I'm really sorry for not calling in."
He bowed his head deeply while trying his best to sound sincere.
To be completely honest, it was oddly difficult to do.
There was a part of him that just didn't care at all about missing the day before, even though every rational part of him knew that he was behind after being absent for a full day of lecture.
Though there was another small part that was glad that he didn't show up yesterday, seeing as it was the day to switch to summer uniforms.
Something he had completely forgotten the day before in his haze.
"Alright then. Just don't let it happen again."
And just like that, the issue was resolved.
The rest of the class ignored him for the most part, and Izuku could tell that the teacher was just going through the motions.
Oddly enough, the return to normalcy was quiet, but sweet in its own way.
Even if he could feel eyes from a certain bespectacled stick-in-the-mud on him throughout the lectures.
He wasn't going to worry too much about that.
"You want me to work for Public Safety?"
His tone was somewhat incredulous.
Though his surprise was to be expected.
As far as he knew, Public Safety was a government organization.
He hadn't even left junior high yet.
It just seemed… odd.
"Well, yes. Devil hunters like us usually take on contracts with devils to fight other devils, but it's really rare for any one of us to get a deal with all the raw power that yours came with, especially with such a low and straightforward price."
Izuku's gaze flicked back over to the Execution Devil, who now looked intrigued, before flicking back to Namimaru.
Straightforward, huh?
Unaware of the dry thought that had just run through the greenette's mind, the devil hunter continued.
"Essentially, what we're offering is a paid internship. Completely noncommittal, you don't even need to be involved in day-to-day affairs. All we ask is that you complete maybe a week of on-the-job training-which you'll be compensated for, by the way- and that you be willing to help out with certain situations should they get dire enough. I think as a starting weekly salary, you'd be receiving… around 80,000? With a minimum of a ¥400,000 bonus for any devils you kill."
It sounded almost too good to be true.
"And there's no catch?"
"No catch at all."
Forget the 'almost'.
"…What's the other offer?"
Namimaru gave the boy another grin.
It must have been a month after the incidents with the Drill Devil and Muscle Devil.
About a week before the beginning of summer vacation, Izuku received a call.
Pi! Pi! Pi!
Checking the caller ID, he could see that it was from his mother's phone, so he answered immediately.
"{Hello, is this Midoriya-san?}"
The voice was female, but not his mother's.
"Um, yes. That's me. Why are you…?"
"{I'm your mother's co-worker. We were in the break room when the break room when she suddenly started coughing and collapsed.}"
He felt his blood run cold.
"So, what do you think? Is there any chance you'd be interested in working for us?"
The offer, as Namimaru laid it out, was tantalizing.
The Execution Devil seemed to think so as well, likely due to the prospect of getting to kill more devils in search of 'Justice'.
Everything about the offer just seemed great.
Mitral valve stenosis.
Three words that felt foreign to him.
Odd, intimidating, the kind that you wouldn't want to be stuck in the same room with.
They were three words of which he had only ever heard the first two, and he only figured that they applied to him in the broad sense that they applied to the rest of the human race.
In the past thirty minutes, those three words scared him half to death.
When he had been told that his mother collapsed, Izuku wasted no time in finding out what hospital she had been taken to and hauling ass to get there as soon as possible.
When he arrived, after confirming who he was, he was directed straight to her room.
When he got there, he met the doctor who explained things to him.
"It's a narrowing of the valve between the two left heart chambers. The narrowed valve reduces or blocks blood flow into the heart's main pumping chamber. From there, complications begin to occur."
She coughed and fainted, is it really simple enough to call that a complication?
"I-is it… curable?"
They lived in a modern era of medicine, surely there had to be something that could be done.
His heart sank when the man shook his head.
"We can treat it, but there's no cure that's been found yet. And, I'm afraid that the regular medication won't be enough to cover it."
"What does that-?"
"This is a severe case. I'm not sure if you heard, but the coughing was wet. There was blood around her mouth."
Izuku caught on quick.
"That means-"
"There's fluid in her lungs. We'll need to operate."
"Well, let's do that then!"
The doctor looked at Izuku with what the boy recognized as sympathy.
He hated it.
¥10,851,080.
That was more money than he'd ever even seen in his life.
That was 100 times the amount of money that her insurance would cover.
It was 50 times the amount that his father's insurance could feasibly cover, and even then, she wasn't on his plan.
He had 6 months.
That was the best estimate that the doctor gave in regards to survivability without it.
He ran the numbers in his head.
¥10,851,080.
If I take out the money that insurance is guaranteed to cover, that still leaves me with ¥10,742,570. That's still over ten million. Dammit.
Getting all of that money in less than half a year would take doing.
Summer vacation would start the next week, he would have around a month of free time to take on as many part-time jobs as humanly possible, but when summer ended, school would start again.
He wasn't sure how many places could legally offer a loan to a kid, and even if he could find one, he'd end up having to pay it back, plus interest.
He'd heard once online that, on the black market, a kidney could go for at least 1.2 Million yen.
But he didn't even know how he would go about getting in contact with anyone to sell it.
He had to think of something. Anything at all.
He needed money and he needed it quick.
But he was running out of ideas.
"Oi, human."
What is it?
"What about that one human you met last month? Hachimaru or something along those lines?"
Hachi… maru?
The name didn't ring a bell.
"The devil hunter. The one from Public Safety."
You mean…?
His mind ran with thoughts, searching frantically for the memories before landing on one in particular.
A business card, held by a rather intimidating man in a black suit, that read-
Hachiman Namimaru
Tokyo Public Safety
First Division
Namimaru-san?
"Indeed. Didn't he mention something regarding payment the last time the two of you met?"
"-as a starting weekly salary, you'd be receiving… around 80,000? With a minimum of a ¥400,000 bonus for any devils you kill."
He was right.
Izuku needed to make a call.
"So what do you think? A good offer, no?"
"Um, yeah."
"If you want, we can get started this weekend, I can have all the paperwork prepared tonight and ready to sign by tomorrow."
"I…"
"It seems to be a fine deal to me."
That your not so subtle way of telling me to say 'yes'?
"Hardly. Whether you say yes or not, I couldn't care less. You're going to be killing devils either way."
How pragmatic.
"Aren't I?"
"Midoriya-kun?"
Izuku liked to think that in the hour that he'd been doing it, he had gotten pretty good at switching from sidebar to the main conversation.
"Sorry, Namimaru-san? I-um, is it alright if I think on this… maybe?"
The older man smiled again, as though this was something he had expected.
"Of course. Feel free to take as much time as you need. This offer won't expire any time soon."
He looked at the time on his watch.
"Well, with that, I believe it's time for us to be going. If you decide to take us up on the offer, feel free to call the number provided on the card."
The three men in black all got up and made their way to the front door.
They opened it, before offering a small polite bow and leaving through it, shutting it when the last one left.
For a moment, Izuku just sat there in silence with the Execution Devil.
A moment after that, there was a message left on the answering machine at home.
It was from his school.
It only took two rings for Izuku to get an answer on the other end of the line.
"{You've got Namimaru.}"
Izuku thought he'd be more nervous in this situation.
But the only thing on his mind at that moment was ¥10,742,570.
"Namimaru-san."
"{Midoriya-kun?}"
"If I were to accept your offer from last month on this call right now, how soon do you think I'd be able to start?"
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
"{Does Friday sound like a good day to you?}"
School ended on Friday.
"Yes, Friday sounds great."
¥10,742,570.
He needed that in six months.
Izuku needed to do his best.