Pieces Chapter 1: Pawn, a my hero academia/僕のヒーローアカデミア fanfic

If you're reading this, then I must've accomplished one of two lifelong goals. I've either become a best=selling author and published my autobiography, or I've managed to sneak this journal past Big's corpse disposal procedure. Either way, congratulations are surely in order. Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am -

"Oi, shitty leech. Stop fucking scribbling in that diary and help me with this shit." A familiar voice barked around the corner, jolting me out of my writing.

He'd broken me out of my train of thought, the bastard. Just as I was starting to get into the groove of things.

"Leech!" He yelled again.

I sighed, snapping my journal closed in resignation. This wasn't King's mildly annoyed tone, after all. This was his "last chance before I attack you" voice. Which wasn't that big of a deal normally, but I really didn't have it in me to start a fight right now.

"Alright! Didn't anyone tell you that patience is a virtue, King?"

"No, and no one told you that shit either. Quit mouthing off and get in here already!"

I took one last look out at the night sky, leaning against the railing in front of me. It really was a beautiful night. A cigarette would've really completed this scene, lent me that proper depressed author look, but there wasn't a chance in hell I'd be able to sneak that past Big. For a woman who dealt with the incredibly immoral on a daily basis, she had quite a few strange moral lines she'd adamantly never cross.

I hopped off the stool I'd been using to reach the railing, wincing as a jolt of pain shot up my left foot. Damn. Looks like it wasn't just a sprain, then. I was definitely getting scolded for that later. I hobble-sauntered back into the apartment behind me, pushing my way past a door that'd been blown partially off its hinges.

Beyond the door was a tiny apartment that'd clearly had a few hurricanes tear through it. The furniture had been flung around the room, the floor and walls had scorch marks seared into them and I was pretty sure there'd been a ceiling fan where was now just a sparking wire. Oh, right, there it was. Embedded in the wall above my partner.

King was crouched over one of the three still bodies littering the room, running his hand through his hair. He was boyishly handsome, in that way that would have old ladies cooing about how he was going to grow up to be a lady killer. It was almost a shame that a near permanent scowl ruined that, even now growing in displeasure as he met my eyes.

The body he'd been crouched over shifted, struggling feebly against King's tight grip on him. Wait.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. You missed one, dumbass."

I wanted to refute that, that he'd been the one to screw up the initial entry and that I'd had to cover for him, but I imagined he wouldn't take kindly to that. Sometimes, dear readers, you just had to let people believe they were in the right. Even when they were definitely in the wrong. Just for the record.

"Ah, I see." I said, reaching into my waistband and pulling out a small pistol. The man's eyes went wide as I clicked the safety off, his head shaking furiously back and forth as I stepped towards him. "An easy enough problem to fix though, no?"

"No, because now she knows we're here. That we're coming after her. You understand why that'd be a slight problem, leech?" King growled, glaring at me. Always with the growling and snarling, I tutted internally You'd think he'd been raised by wolves.

I sighed, coming up beside him and crouching down next to our man. The man certainly screamed "gangster" with the tank top and tattoos, though he hadn't quite managed to maintain his tough composure over the course of the night. He was a sweaty mess now, flinching away as I placed the cold barrel of my gun against his head and gently nudged it to the side. On the side of his neck was a tattoo of a moth, blazing a brilliant purple as it faded before my very eyes. Which meant Mother had only just cut him off from her network, that she'd seen what we'd done to her goons. Shit.

"Got any more bright ideas, shitty leech?"

"Well, the original plan still stands." I said, eyeing our hostage. He flinched rather dramatically at that, for such a big guy. Interesting. "He's no use to either Mother or us now, is he? Dead weight."

King frowns, meeting my gaze above our hostage's head. I hold up my left hand, putting two fingers and my thumb together. The fox. I made the fox's little ears twitch, grinning at the deadpan expression on my partner's face. He rolls his eyes, but he couldn't hide that little spark of vicious amusement in his expression from my eyes. I'd known him and his various mannerisms for far too long to miss it.

"I guess so. You want to do it? It's only fair since I did it last time." He said, feigning nonchalance. He didn't do a particular good job of it, but it'd serve my purposes well enough.

I hummed, reaching back with my gun to scratch the back of my head. The man's eyes followed it, tears beginning to well up in them.

"I don't know. Bigs such a prick about the ammo count thing, y'know? We might as well save the bullet."

"Yeah?" King grinned, and I wasn't entirely sure that he was faking the morbid pleasure on his face. "What are you thinking?"

"Hm. We haven't drowned anyone in a while, have we? I really enjoy that desperate gurgling just before they kick it."

"Sink's broken, though." King said, a contemplative expression on his face as he looked around the room.

He finally shrugged, standing up and hooking his arms under our man's armpits.

"Guess we'll have to use the toilet." He said, dragging him bodily across the floor towards the bathroom.

Our hostage started kicking the air as King dragged him across the floor, a hand reaching towards me as he screamed into his gag. Perfect.

"Ah, hold on, King. How could we be so rude? Clearly the gentlemen has a preference himself!"

I dipped to one knee in front of him, feeling my smile widen unconsciously at the look on his face. I had to admit that I took an unnatural pleasure in this, in holding power so completely over someone else. If you're judging me for that, dear reader, then you certainly wouldn't be alone.

I knew all too well the amount of judgment I'd get back at base if I'd pulled this particular stunt in front of almost anyone else in our motley crew. King was a prick, but he was the only one who didn't care when I truly let myself go, didn't censor myself in the slightest. For that, I could forgive a thousand insults and nicknames.

I signaled King with a snap of my fingers, winking at him. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, but dutifully reached down and pulled the gag off our man's mouth. Good boy.

Said man doubled over with coughs, hacking his lungs out in front of us. King wrinkled his nose in disgust but held on tight, keeping him suspended by the armpits. The man's head was hanging forward, taking in desperate breaths of air as he looked up at me through a fringe of sweat slicked hair. Not enough tension, for what we needed. Not enough dread in his eyes.

"What would it be, sir?" I said, watching him carefully. There was an art to this, a craft I could only hope to one day master. To pulling and pushing on his emotions, to repeatedly injecting tension and relieving it until he'd beg me to stop. "If drowning's not to your taste, perhaps we could go with the classic noose? We could even let you write the suicide note, if you wanted to leave behind a message to your loved ones."

"Y-you're-" The man coughed again, a glob of blood splattering onto the ground. "You're just k- kids. "

"Indeed we are," I said, suppressing the instinctual twitch in my smile. Why was that the part these guys always focused on when we were threatening their lives? "But shouldn't you be focused on something else?"

"Answer the fucking question, asshole. Or we'll decide for you." King said, reminding the man of his presence again by tightening his grip on him. Our man's tension was spiking, close to where we wanted it. Well done on King's part, if a little unsubtle. I supposed that went without saying for him though.

"Stop- stop this shit, kid. Seriously! You don't know who you're fucking with!" He screamed, breath ragged as his eyes darted wildly between us.

"That sounded like drowning to me, King. What did you hear?" I said, smile stretching impossibly wider.

"That's funny, leech. I think I heard the same damn thing." King said, dragging him fully into the bathroom and slamming him against the toilet. I meandered after them, poking my head in to watch King work. He flipped the man in place as if he wasn't twice the size of himself, effortlessly holding him down against the porcelain rim despite his frantic struggling. He held our man's head inches above the water, a vicious grin growing on his face.

Yes, I'd have to censor a lot of this whole thing from our peers. Bishop would start worrying about King 'backsliding' again, and that would quickly become rather annoying.

"Enough, kid! You're not going to actually - "The man yelled, shortly before being shoved into the water. King let out a bark of laughter as the man screamed underwater, struggling desperately to resurface. His arms didn't budge in the slightest, holding him down for far longer than we'd been trained to do.

"King, enough!" I finally snapped, putting a hand on his shoulder. He stared back at me absently for a few seconds before the glare abruptly returned, snapped out of whatever memory he'd been lost in.

"Piss off, leech. I know what I'm doing." He said, pulling the man back up for air before letting him go. The man gasped desperately for air, clinging onto the porcelain for dear life.

I stared at King for a few seconds, but the mission ultimately took precedence. I supposed I'd have to get Bishop involved after all, once this clusterfuck of a mission was finally over. I stepped forward, kneeling down to be at eye level with our hostage. His eyes met mine and I saw what I'd been seeking this entire time, the only emotion that could break through Mother's conditioning. The genuine fear of death.

"Have you noticed, sir?" I said, tapping the side of my neck. "Your mark. It's gone."

"Bullshit." He growled, glaring back at me in defiance. "Mother wouldn't - "

"Wouldn't what? Abandon you to die?" I said, a smile returning on my face. "Go ahead, then. Reach out. Let her know some monsters are coming after her darling children."

I held the man's gaze as the defiance slowly faded from his eyes, dread dawning in its stead.

"No." He whispered. "She wouldn't."

"You're not the first, you know. We've got loads of her followers in custody right now, safe from her reach. That could be you, if you're feeling cooperative." I said.

"Or you could choose to die, just like your buddies did." King growled. He was lying through his teeth, but it wasn't like the man was exactly in a position to check.

"But she'll - she'll hear if I talk. She'll know." Our hostage mumbled, almost to himself.

I leaned in closer, making sure he saw the sincerity in my eyes. "Not if you play it smart. We've got ways to protect you from her ears. We're heroes after all, the good guys! Right?"

The man trembled, glancing nervously between King and me. It seemed he had a hard time believing in my words, for some odd reason. He'd come to the right conclusion soon enough. It wasn't like the man had any other options left to him.

King leaned against the bathroom wall, crossing his arms with an expression like he couldn't care less. But I knew better; he was just as invested in this as I was. He just had a different way of showing it.

"Okay. Okay, I'll talk." the man finally said, his voice shaky. "I'll talk. But you promise she won't know."

I nodded, gesturing for King to ease up. "You have my word. Contingent on you having something actually useful for us, of course."

He swallowed hard, the reality of his situation sinking in. "Okay. I don't know everything, but I can tell you this much—Mother's planning something big. She's been gathering resources, setting up more locations, recruiting, just- just more of everything."

"We're aware. What were your bunch doing here, specifically?" I said, prodding him along. We were on a clock now of sorts, if Mother had seen us take out this little hideout. She'd be accelerating her plans, whatever those were.

"Recruiting. Uh, giving out flyers and shit." He tilted his head towards the pile of paper resting on the living room table. Or more accurately, the burnt pile of ashes that now littered the floor. Hm. I raised an eyebrow at King, only to be met with a defiant glare. Incorrigible.

"She's holding a rally at Makuhari, a warehouse. The one that closed down recently. If you're going after her, that's - that's where she'd be."

"And if she knew someone was coming after her? Where would she go instead?"

He shook his head, expression grim. "You don't understand. She's not scared of the heroes. Or you. Uh, no offense. Every time someone went after her like you, they - well, they became part of her flock."

King and I exchanged glances. This was the break we'd been waiting for, a real lead directly toward the target. A strange place to find it, but we wouldn't complain.

"Good. That's a start," I said, offering him a reassuring smile. "We'll get you out of here and into protective custody. A whole bunch of walls between you and her and three square meals a day. Promise. You just need to stay calm and follow our lead, okay?"

He nodded, still looking wary but resigned to his fate. I straightened up, preparing to escort him out.

"King, grab the cuffs," I said, turning my back to our hostage for a moment to look over the burnt fliers. Ah, one had been missed in the initial assault. I leaned down, picking it up. Huh. 'Akiyama for Mayor.' It seemed Mother had friends in high places. Or perhaps this was our target. Why would she let that kind of intel spread so far, though? It didn't make sense. There was something I was missing, but -

There was a dull thud, and our hostage crumpled to the floor, unconscious. King stood over him, hands still gripped onto this head. He flipped the man around and got atop him, reaching into his backpack for zip ties.

"What the hell, King?" I snapped. "He was going to come willingly."

King shrugged, not looking the least bit apologetic. "We need to keep moving, or that bitch is going to slip away from us again. Big'll take care of him."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I hated how I couldn't refute the logic in that. "Fine. Help me tie the rest of them up, then we'll hit the road. I'll make the call."

I stepped back out onto the apartment walkway, closing the door gingerly behind me. Or as gingerly as I could, given that it was hanging off one hinge. I took in the sweet silence of the night for a moment, the crisp cold air outside the apartment contrasting sharply with the heat within.

I stepped further onto the balcony, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the cheap burner phone we'd been given for the week. I flipped it open, dialing the only contact it had in it.

"Report." A woman responded, already sounding irritated.

"What's up, Big?" I said, quickly slipping into character. "Bad date?"

"Don't - " Big paused, audibly collecting herself. "First of all, you will refer to me as Handler. Secondly, no I did not have a bad date. It was rather pleasant, actually. Not that that's any of your business."

"Uh huh. But you sound frustrated, Big. Let me guess, my man's a quickshot? Lasted a minute or two, tops?"

"Where the hell do you kids even learn this shit?" Big said, fully losing her composure. I really did enjoy talking to her more when she was like this. "Last time I checked, we don't issue any - you know - "

"Porn? You think hormone ridden teenagers don't know how to get access to porn?" I said in genuine disbelief. "Big… I think you're starting to get a bit out of touch with the youth. Old, even!"

"I swear to god - " A muffled curse comes through the receiver, before she speaks again. I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to hear that part.

"Agent Pawn, if the next words out of your mouth aren't mission relevant, I will be recommending disciplinary action. Understood?" She snarls, but we both know there's no bite behind it. She hated giving out punishments nearly as much as we hated receiving them.

"Fine, fine. Me and King got invited to a rally - " I looked down at the flier in my hand. "And we're going to go support… Ms. Akiyama for mayor. Huh. Her teeth are super shiny. Do you think she uses those whitener strip thingies? Or is it just photoshop?"

"Agent Pawn."

"Well, she's got a nice smile so we're going to go see her talk. Politics, am I right? In the meanwhile, we've got 3 burly men bundled up as presents for you over here. Help yourself, Big. Should help you get over Mr. Quickshot."

King stepped out of the apartment behind me, similarly half-closing the door behind him. He stomped past me, ignoring me entirely as he made his way back to the car. I started following after him slowly, keeping the weight off my left leg as I went. There's a long sigh over the phone, as some papers get shuffled on Big's desk.

"Right. So, to translate from smart ass, you've taken out the hideout, and are now pursuing a lead to Mother's civilian identity. You need us to do cleanup on 3 - you left them alive? That's… unusual for you."

I grit my teeth, falling abruptly silent at the reminder. For once, no snarky comments came to mind. She continues talking after an awkward pause, all business.

"Right. Well, I'll take care of that for you. I know I don't have to tell you kids but be careful. She's already taken out 2 squads, and I don't want you to be next. Understood?"

"Aw. It almost sounds like you'd miss us, if we all died tomorrow." I said, reaching the end of the staircase. King had already rounded the corner, stomping as loudly as possible. I stopped for a moment, looking up at the stars as I listened to her breath over the phone. Speechless, for the tiniest of moments.

There was a deep sigh before she finally replied, a smile in her voice.

"Of course I would, you idiot kid. Who else would help me forget all about Mr. Quickshot?"

"Ha!" I nearly choked on the bark of laughter that burst out of my throat, surprising even myself. "I knew it!"

"Report tomorrow, Pawn. 'Forgetting to' isn't going to fly as an excuse, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." I said, adopting a mock serious tone. "Agent Pawn signing off."

She scoffed, and the phone went dead. I shoved it back into my jacket pocket, continuing onto our ride. Well, ride of the week. I wasn't quite knowledgeable enough about cars to figure out what, but it looked like a family sedan if it hadn't been repaired or used for a decade or so. It wasn't quite the kind of car you'd expect a secret agent to have, but we made it work. My ears perked up at the sound of faint classical music drifting out of it's windows as I approached. Huh. That wasn't usually in Rook's playlist.

I couldn't help but look over my shoulder as I approached the door, glancing over the practically abandoned neighbourhood. Not a soul in sight. The paranoia was starting to get at me, ever so lightly. I opened the front seat door and slid in, preemptively holding a hand up to my side.

"Darling!" Rook squealed, practically leaping off the driver seat to grab onto me. I held her flailing in place with practiced ease, closing the car door with my other hand. She fired questions at me regardless, completely undaunted. "How'd it go? Were ya hurt? Did ya hurt them ? How badly?!"

I glanced at the backseat, taking a mental note of everyone's condition. King was snoring in the backseat, completely ignoring all of us. Asshole. Bishop sat in the center of the backseat, engrossed in some book or other. It was difficult to keep track, when she'd have a new title in her hand every few days. Ah. That was probably why the classical was playing, now that I thought about it. Rook's usual tastes tended to not be the most... conducive for that.

"Oh my god, would you shut her up already?" The last person in the backseat groaned, forcing one droopy eye open to glare at the two of us. Knight was leaned up against the door at the back of the car, long purple hair tied up in a ponytail. It looked good on him, but I would sooner die than tell him that. The smugness in the resulting smirk alone would've sent me to an early grave, I was sure.

"Me? What makes you think I have any control of her?" I scowled, reaching into the glovebox with my free hand and grabbing a candy bar from our stash. I brought it up to my mouth, tearing it open with my teeth and stuffing it in her mouth. Her questions slowed to a silence as she chewed on the bar, slinking back into her seat in sugary satisfaction. I let out a sigh of relief, reaching back and pulling on the car seat belt.

Knight rolled his eyes instead of responding, but seemed satisfied with my temporary solution. And temporary it was, for the sugar high would only make Rook twice as annoying within the next 10 minutes. I supposed I'd have to get everything ready before then.

"So? Where we heading to next?" Knight asked, leaning forward.

Right. I rummaged in our glovebox, pulling out a map of the prefecture. Let's see, cross referencing against the flier… ah. I put a finger to our target, tapping it twice. Rook leaned over to stare at it, absentmindedly munching on her candy.

Bishop hums, tilting her head. "I believe that journey would take us across the prefecture, sir Pawn. As it is already late, would Lady Rook not surely suffer exhaustion if we were to forgo tarrying at a local abode first?"

"Sir"? I raised an eyebrow at Knight, who simply shrugged his shoulders. I supposed I'd roll with it.

"I'm afraid so, uh.. Lady Bishop." She nodded in satisfaction, smiling. "But if we were to… tarry, as you say, we would lose sight of our uh…"

"Quarry." Knight joined in, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, quarry. Thank you, Sir Knight." I said, only now realizing how that sounded. He did too, if that smirk of his was anything to go by. Ugh. As if Knight needed his ego inflated any further. "We must make haste to catch up to our quarry, before she disappears into the wind."

And that would be a problem. She'd been working her way along the coast, never stopping in any one city for too long. Collecting useful followers and resources before disappearing, somehow traveling under our radars to reappear in another city. A rally suggested something bigger, a plan. A fixed time and place where we knew she'd be present. I wasn't giving up that opportunity, considering we very well might never get it again.

"And looking at the map…" I said, making some quick calculations in my head. "It should be about a 3-hour trip. We reach there at 3am, sleep for around 5 hours, be there for the rally at 10. Should be fine."

Bishop frowns, but ultimately nods. Knight had already fallen asleep, following in King's footsteps.

"Strap in! Rook will take you there in half that time!" Rook suddenly yells, grabbing hold of the steering wheel. The car roars to life as she angles her head to look at the map, squinting. Ah, shit. I'd underestimated how quickly the sugar rush would kick in.

I grab onto the dashboard in front of me as the car squeals out of the parking lot, sending us barreling down the highway. The sound of maniacal laughter and screaming followed after it a second later, lost to the wind.

PLEASE INSERT RELEVANT CREDENTIALS.

AUTHENTICATING…

WELCOME, AGENT NAKAMURA.

OPENING FILE DIRECTORY 'PEACE'

ACCESSING AGENT FILE: PAWN

WARNING: INSUFFICIENT AUTHORIZATION, CONTENT RESTRICTED

DISPLAYING FILE

Code: PAWN

Name: REDACTED

Age: 13

D.O.B: 5/13/20XX

Acquisition: REDACTED

Quirk: Copy

Base: REDACTED

Handler Remarks:

Smart, good with his words. Occasionally shows signs of insubordination but backs down quickly if peers are threatened. Will try to get things past you if you're not vigilant. Keep an eye on him. Do not let him get under your skin. If he finds a weakness of yours, he will never let it go.