CHAPTER TEN: BLACK COMPANY

Katsuo regretted a lot. Fortunately, he has the power to change most of what he regrets. Spending two hours of his life trying to search up the Black Company gang on his computer and finding almost nothing? Yeah, he's never getting those two hours back. Katuso leaned back in his chair and groaned, wishing he could find anything about the gang, but he couldn't. He even looked up their stupid looking symbol, the crosshair-looking thing. Nothing. "Whelp, guess it's time to hit the pavement." Katsuo was scheduled to go to the gym today with Kirishima and Midoriya, so he had until around 12:10 to do whatever he wanted.

Katsuo figured the best way to find a gang-related crime was to search from a vantage point, which inevitably led to Katsuo climbing up to the roof of a tall building and searching from there. Besides, if the Black Company tried to burn another building down, he would see the smoke fairly easily. What he wanted to do was search that building they had already burned, but it was way too collapsed for Katsuo to find anything alone. Besides, the police were all over it anyway, so he couldn't get close even if he wanted to. Anyway, it was time to focus up and lock in. Katsuo sharpened his eyes and ears and waited for even the slightest disturbance in the neighborhood. When he got bored 10 minutes later, he deemed it a good time to keep practicing with his mana.

The going theory with mana was based on it being a type of energy. He wanted to solidify it somehow to create objects. That would be cool, but everyone starts somewhere, so he decided to settle on strings for now. Unfortunately, Katsuo was so busy training his mana proficiency that he practically fell off the building when a loud noise combined with his enhanced hearing nearly scared him to death. Literally. Jumping into action quickly, Katsuo jumped from building to building, making his way to the sound of active combat somewhere nearby…

"Okay everybody, stay back!" The police were doing everything they could to ensure the safety of the bystanders who were caught up in this mess. A drug deal gone wrong between two groups spiraled out of control, leading to an all out fight between villains. One of them was blasting fire, another shooting shrapnel, while the last two had gigantified and were now fighting above an overpass. Needless to say, the police were happy when pro heroes quickly arrived on the scene. Edgeshot, Midnight, and a surprise to everyone there: Mirko. "Allright, who's ready to get their ass kicked first?!" Mirko yelled as she slammed into the pavement between the two smaller fighters.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" The fire user panics, shooting out as much fire as possible. He must have had a limited supply however, because he soon ran out of flames, only to get a roundhouse kick to the chin, sending him flying across the road. It may have been overkill. The rock shrapnel user was only a tiny bit smarter, opting to run away instead. Mirko instantly caught up to him, grabbing his leg as he jumped away and slamming him into the pavement. Now, for the giants. One had already been taken down by Midnight, who used her sleep pheromones to knock him out cold, causing him to shrink back to normal. Edgeshot had turned his arms to a sharp string and wrapped it around the legs of the other giant, who's gigantification had run out of time.

Katsuo, who was watching from a few buildings away, was disappointed. "Well, guess it's back to the building-" Suddenly, a shout from the villain penetrated his ears, grabbing his attention instantly due to the panicked nature. "Oh no, I am NOT going out like this!" The man slipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out a syringe with some sort of red liquid inside of it. And then, he jammed it into his leg, screaming in pain as the drug made its way throughout his body via bloodstream. The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body growing larger and larger. His screams got deeper and louder, his size had stopped when he was twice as large as he was before.

He was easily the size of a 15 story tall building, and a threat to everyone nearby. However, something went horribly wrong. His body was unable to take the stress of his out-of-control quirk, his heart failing to keep up. The man, who's heart had given up and stopped beating, began to fall right on top of the overpass. Mirko, who had already jumped into the air to combat the giant, looked down in horror as screams of fear and despair rang out from the group of civilians hiding underneath. The heroes were too far away, the concrete and support beams were already on their way down to crush the innocent people. Dammit, I can't save them!

However, her eyes caught something. A boy with striking purple eyes moved as fast as lightning under the overpass, catching the falling debris. "RUN… GET OUTTA HERE!" He yelled through gritted teeth. The people moved quickly in their own right, scrambling to get out of the way of the falling debris. Mirko watched as this 13 year old boy managed to hold up not only the weight of the overpass, but also of the 20 story tall giant that had fallen on top of it. And then, in a feat of pure strength, Katsuo infused his fist with as much mana as he could manage and punched the debris. Sending it only a few feet upward, just enough for Katsuo to jump backwards out from under the overpass.

He rolled across the road towards the police barricade, accumulating scrapes and bruises, but nothing too bad. Holy shit, good looks kid! However, a scene much like the one from a few days ago played out. Medics and policemen ran over to the idiot that risked his life to save random people, berating and bandaging him up at the same time. Then, it was the heroes' turn. "That was awesome kid!" Mirko sprinted over to Katsuo, who only noticed her when she was right in his face. She was much too excited to notice the look of recognition the boy had in his eyes. It's her. She's a lot younger than she was at that time, but she's easily recognizable. Where other people would see the Rabbit Hero: Mirko, Katsuo saw the flash of white that had saved him from the Nomu and thanked him for saving the girl.

He saw the last person he talked to before punching his ticket. He felt his heart tighten, his face became warm for some reason. He quickly snapped out of it though as a monster approached. "Hey kid. What did I tell you about getting into stupid situations?" Katsuo looked up in terror as Midnight stood above him, her arms crossed under an unapproving gaze. "Oh, uh…" Katsuo was sweating now. "You told me not to?" Midnight smiled sadistically, licking her lips. "Exactly… Now it's time for your punishment." Mirko watched in confusion as the R-rated Hero, Midnight, dragged Katsuo off to the side, whispering in his ear while handing him a note. "Come to my house in two days… I have some work I need you to do~" Katsuo placed his hand over his beating hard and sighed.

He was about to leave when a familiar rabbit hopped over to him. "Hey kid, don't worry about what the pervert has to say. I think you were really awesome today!" Mirko threw a thumbs up at Katsuo with her signature grin before hopping away again, probably to find more villains to fight. His blush was back, his heart beating even more wildly. Later, when he met up with his friends outside the gym, they worried about the dazed expression on his face. "I uh… I think rabbits are my favorite animal now…"

This time, the three boys went to a nearby restaurant after their workout. Midoriya's training was going splendidly, making great strides strength-wise, so they all decided it was time for a nice reward. Besides, it was the perfect time to start teaching Katsuo about the information in Midoriya's second hero notebook. It was just about random heroes, the occasional big name coming up here and there, but nothing much. They ordered milkshakes and fries, ate up, and then split off to go home. This time, Kirishima and Katsuo were able to get home without any problems. Of course, that didn't mean the day was over yet.

Katsuo went home and took a nap. When the sun had finally set on the restless city, it was time for investigative work. Katsuo went back to the overpass, which was now covered in police tape to keep people away. His attention however was set on a nearby alleyway that was covered in the same black and yellow that the overpass was. Must have been where the deal went down. Confirming the zero presence of police in the area, Katsuo snuck into the alleyway to do his thing. The police had already gone through and taken most of what was important, but you could never be too careful when investigating a crime scene like this. Humans are human, and they make mistakes frequently. That meant, Katsuo had the chance of finding something good.

There were markers all over the alleyway, pointing out burns on the ground and walls, pieces of rock that had been wedged into the area, etc. However, something caught Katsuo's keen eye. The street light just outside the alleyway caused something to glimmer under the dumpster, prompting Katsuo to get on his hands and knees to grab it. It was a phone. Darkly colored, meaning it would be easily missed by any police officers searching around. Katsuo only noticed the small glint of light bouncing off of it due to his enhanced perception. It's fairly old, looks like a model from around 10 years ago. Someone must have been stuck in the past. I guess it slid out of their pocket somehow in the middle of the confusion when the deal went sideways. Its design was based on the flip phone from around a century ago, back when portable phones were still relatively new.

Flipping it open (which Katsuo actually found to be quite fun), he came across a lock which required a pass code. Dammit. Thinking he might as well try just in case, Katsuo typed in "1234". It didn't work. I'll have to see if I can run a program to crack it. Slipping the phone into his pocket and scouring the rest of the alleyway, Katsuo deemed the place barren of any more evidence and decided not to push his luck any further by staying longer than he needed to. He expertly climbed to the top of the building and quickly made his way home…

After sneaking back into his bedroom via the window, Katsuo got to work quickly. He plugged the phone into his computer and began running a program that would try every possible combination of numbers. It was also extremely fast, so Katsuo estimated it would only take around an hour to get the right numbers. In the meantime, Katsuo pulled out a few more books from the library. It had been a while since he studied, but he leveled up practically exponentially due to the dungeon break, allowing him to store even more information inside his ever growing collection of math and science. And as an upside, he hadn't been attacked by a giant on his way back home from the library this time.

Katsuo was just wrapping up the last book when a chime from the computer grabbed his attention, signaling the phone had been unlocked. Katsuo memorized the password on the computer screen before disconnecting the phone and beginning his search. I know this is technically vigilantism, but I'm having WAY too much fun to stop now. Dismissing the fact that he was committing a crime right now, Katsuo began poking around. The ID's in the phone were mostly mundane, things like Mom and Dad. But at the bottom of the list was a group chat seemingly between the owner of the phone and a few other members. And wouldn't you know, the recent conversation was just what he needed.

You: Hey, Daichi, I may have forgotten where we were supposed to meet up tonight. Mind floatin me the address real quick? :)

Kilawa: Dammit Jinbei, what did we say already? MEMORIZE THE DAMN LOCATIONS

Daichi: Chill out Kilawa, you can scream at him in person. And for you, Jinbei, meet us at the docks at 4:25 AM. Look for the red building with the billboard on top. The building is directly behind that one. I'll personally be waiting to beat your ass after you finish that deal. And remember, burn the phone. We don't need the cops finding it.

You: Don't worry bossman, I'll remember to burn my phone! See you at the docks!

Kilawa: Dumbass.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Kilawa. This guy is a dumbass." 4:25 was still way off. He had around three hours before the meeting took place, so for now, it was back to studying. I know it's easier now and everything, but I still hate doing this shit…

The Docks

It was now 4:20. Katsuo was standing on top of a building across the street from the docks, wearing his usual black jacket with a pair of black bootcut jeans. Katsuo's wardrobe was rather limited. While he had his hood up to cover his face, Katsuo had also made sure to wear a plastic mask. There was no design, just two holes where the eyes were and two holes where his nose was to ensure proper breathing. Katsuo couldn't see himself right now, but he was sure he looked awesome. Probably. Hopefully. As the clock ticked down, Katsuo hopped down from the building and jumped to the other side of the street, sticking to the shadows as he moved through the yard.

He spotted the red building, as well as a few suspicious men walking around. They weren't dressed in guard uniforms, meaning they were most likely a part of the Black Company. Katsuo stealthily dropped behind one of them and knocked him out with a small blow to the back of the head before dragging him into a dark corner. By the time the other guard realized his partner was missing, it was too late. Katsuo was on him in a millisecond, soon dragging a second body over to the first one, depositing both in a dumpster. "Sleep tight until the cops come." Katsuo continued forward, taking out any guards in his way as he grew closer to the meeting place. He even discovered where the real guards were. After checking their vitals and ensuring their health, he kept moving.

Gonna have to start studying medical books as well. Could prove useful. Now that the guards were safely secured near the exit, it was time to infiltrate. After sneaking around the building once, Katsuo deemed that climbing to the roof would be his best option. He located the drain pipe for the rain gutters and made his ascent up the side of the building. Now he was watching a gang meetup through the skylight. There were nine people present, each one looking nearly identical. They were all wearing business suits, except the parts that would normally be white were now as black as the rest of the outfit. They wore black hats, black bandanas and black sunglasses to hide their identities as well.

"Okay, looks like everybody's here. Let's get started." The men got closer to the middle of the room and gathered around a man sitting on a stack of wooden crates. "I'm sure you all saw that dumbass Jinbei get himself caught earlier today. It was all over the news. Even worse, now the world knows about Trigger." Trigger? Katsuo had never heard it before, but a little bit of common sense and analyzing the name led him to believe Trigger was what that man, Jinbei, had injected himself with to supercharge his quirk. "It'll be bad if we get caught distributing Trigger, so we'll lay low for a little while. That'll make the buyers antsy to get more as well, so it's a win-win situation for- hey, Top Claw. What the hell are you doing over there?"

Katsuo's attention was brought over to a man with an animal quirk. His body was similar to that of a lion, despite him standing upright on two legs. His lion head was now sniffing the air aggressively before growling, "We have… an INTRUDER!" Top Claw's head jerked upwards and looked Katsuo dead in the eyes before he jumped up to the roof. His claws latched onto the metal, his hands smashing through the glass and pulling Katsuo into the building. "UMPF!" Katsuo landed hard, the wind getting knocked out of him as the men approached him. Damn, I got careless. "Heh, look what the cat dragged in literally. Bet you weren't expecting us to have a hound dog, right?"

The men chuckled, happy to laugh at Katsuo's expense as he got up. Then, he stopped faking. "Nah, I was just having too much fun." He looked at the leader with a cocky grin on his face, his eyes screaming danger to anyone who saw them. The leader backed up slowly, ordering his men to fight and hoping nobody would realize just how scared he was. Katsuo ducked under a lobster claw and kneed the same man in the chin before using a kick to spin around and hit another guy in the jaw. "One and two." He jumped up and kicked his legs to the side, hitting another two in the nose. "Three and four!" Then, he uppercut another guy so hard he flew into the air. Katsuo jumped up, grabbed the man's ankle, and slammed him into the ground before turning around and throwing the man at two more people. "Five, six, and seven."

The leader was scared out of his mind now. He turned around and made a break for the door, tripping on himself and falling to the ground. He scrambled to get up, but his frantic movements simply lacked any thought behind them, disabling his ability to stand back up. He turned back around only to see Katsuo. He couldn't see it because of the mask, but the man could only imagine the grin Katsuo had on his face before he knocked the man out. "You know, I didn't forget about you." Top Claw dropped from the ceiling, his large body cracking the floor and slightly shaking the ground beneath Katsuo's feet. "Why didn't you save your friends? Seems like they needed your help."

Top Claw growled again. "I was fairly normal as a child. But as I grew up, my quirk made me bloodlusted and itching for a fight. I hated that side of me, and thus attempted to hold in my animal urges. But when I accidentally killed a man out of self-defense, I realized just how fun it was to fight. So I honed my body and sharpened my mind, and became the apex-predator. The only reason I joined the Black Company was to find stronger opponents to fight, so get over here and FIGHT ME!" The fight was over in less than two seconds. A simple punch to the gut was all it took for the beast to go down. He hadn't even seen Katsuo before he fell to the ground. "There are many people still stronger than me. That means, you were nowhere near the top of the food chain, ya damn cat."

Seeing that everyone was now unconscious, Katsuo called the police and began a quick investigation before they arrived. He found a briefcase full of more red vials. Hmmm… Must be Trigger. Good thing I knocked these guys out quickly, or else they could have been a lot tougher to deal with. But how am I gonna find out where this stuff is coming from? Suddenly, a (slightly) sadistic idea came to his mind. He dragged the leader up to the roof of the building and woke him up. "Huh? Wha- AHHHH!" The leader began to spasm and shake his arms out of fear once he realized he was hanging upside down, a simple slip of the hand was all it took to send him to his death. The man looked at who was holding him up, only to see Katsuo. Once again, he imagined a sadistic grin under his mask.

"Here's what's gonna happen, sir. You're gonna tell me where you got this ugly red shit from, and I won't drop you." The man gathered his senses back and tried to bluff his way out. He was met with a 5 foot drop to the ground before bouncing back up. Katsuo had attached a rope to the man. "Okay, okay, I'll tell ya, you crazy bastard! I don't know who makes this stuff, or where they are, but I know whoever they are works for the Black Company, okay?! But that's all I know, I swear!" Katsuo could tell the man wasn't lying, It was clear as day. "Thanks buddy, mind holding this for me?" Katsuo pulled the man up, slapped a sticky note on his chest and knocked him out again before dropping him, letting him hang by his ankle from the rooftop.

That note will explain things to the police once they get here. And speak of the devil! The police arrived right after the interrogation, but Katsuo was able to stealthily slip out of there and escape without anyone noticing him.

Hmmm… seems the well has dried up for now. I probably won't find anything if the Black Company has been ordered to lay low. Guess I'll just keep my ear to the ground in case anything new happens.

And with that, Katsuo went home, not knowing just how dangerous the Black Company was, and how they would affect his life from then on…

A/N

I think I'll keep posting at this rate for a while so I can continue to accumulate ideas for the next few chapters. Also, I'm going to write a "data book" that'll summarize everything you need to know about Katsuo, just to make sure everybody is on the same page. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day!