Hi, all. I'm just trying shit out, I guess. I like the way this started so...let's see how it goes
3 days later
"Thanks for getting this back in order quick." Izuku says, shaking the hand of the main contractor.
"Yeah, no problem. Obviously, there's still cosmetic damage, the like. But it's all usable." The man replies, and Izuku nods
"It works for me. I've dealt with a lot worse." Izuku shrugs, and the contractor raises an eyebrow
"You sure?'
"I didn't come from much. I worked construction for a few years as a side-job."
"Ahhh. Demo?"
"I did a bit of everything. I'm in finance now. Caught a lucky break." Izuku admits, and the man nods
"Fair enough, kiddo. We'll be back tomorrow at 8:00 again. See you then, sir." The man says, walking out. Izuku sighs, running his hands through his still short hair. Walking into his closet, he walked to the far wall, closest to the interior of the building. Moving a pair of shoes on the bottom half of his shoe rack, he presses his thumb into a small hidden well, and a small needle pricks his finger, drawing a tiny, tiny amount of blood.
Sumi following him, Izuku steps in what he likes to call 'The Room'. A wall-to-wall armory, server room, and work-station. Over 20 firearms lined the wall to his left, and a large personal sever sat at the far end of that wall. To his right, a trio of 3D printers sit on a large steel table, powered by a small, contained, and highly illegal nuclear reactor, that Izuku...acquired, a few years back. This reactor also powered his PC, router, modem, and server, allowing for uninterrupted power to all of those electronics.
Sitting down at his PC, a personally built monster of a rig that could rival one in a flight or space government entity. Running the PC, that whirs to life, pulling up a massive amount of 3D files, text documents, and contracts.
Izuku wasn't in finance. He knew this. But it was an easy lie to explain the money. He was a killer. An 'assassin'. He didn't love that word. He preferred the term 'contract killer'. He wasn't some pro. He did it because he was good. He had nearly been killed dozens of times. Those were assassins. The killer of killers.
He reviewed the last few jobs. French President, the hardest job and largest payday. 5 million USD, paid in full on completion. Not a bad deal. High-ranking Singaporean official. 1.2 million. Mid-level Chinese. 600k. And on and on and on. In total, over just about 2 years, he had brought in nearly 50 million USD. He had started small. Local. 10k there. 20k there. Then he hit a big job. A corrupt Japanese official. He got a the hit, 750k. That person referred him further, and brought him into the world of killers.
And then, he messed up. He ended up in Russia after a job gone bad. And now...
A message board, all in Russian. Simply known as the Website. Jobs. Money. Drugs. Sex. Trafficking. Death. Bribes. Every single warcrime, crime against humanity, and anything else was on this board, up for sale. And Izuku has dozens of requests. All contract killings. They knew his place. He was a killer, and that's how he got paid.
Sumi hopped onto his desk, curling up on top of the PC spacer to keep warm, as Izuku studies the jobs. While for the most part he got jobs given to him, he was technically allowed to choose what ones he took. Japanese official. Too risky. Russian official. Absolutely not. British corporate heir. Maybe. Japanese...hero.
Izuku blinked, looking at the posting. It was in English. Which for a Russian-based contract killer site, was a bit odd. Not unheard of. But odd.
I need someone to kill a specific Japanese pro hero. Further details will be given upon acceptance. 20 Million USD.
Izuku tilted his head at the listing. For someone to be paying this much money...they had to be a high ranked pro. Had to be. So...top three was currently...Lemillion...Dynamight...Freezerburn. Maybe not them. The rest of the top ten them? Creati? Miruko? Either way...gonna be a hard sell...
Shaking his head, he clicked further on the listing. No other info. No date, no contact except solely through the sites message board. He was good, and knew what he was doing. He wasn't allowing much of a trace...
Izuku pulled out his phone, and opened a secure messaging app, and shot a quick message to a certain contact. 25 seconds later...
"20 Million USD? On whose head?" The tired voice asks
"I don't know, that's why I said I don't know." Izuku responds
"20 Million USD is a large bounty. Meaning it's likely top 10."
"That's my line of logic."
"Who do you think it is?"
"I don't know, Eraser. They're giving no other details." Izuku sighs, as the former Pro Hero turned informant matched it
"Okay. Let me guess, it needs to be accepted before any more info is given."
"More or less."
"Shit. Any identifiers?"
"Only that it was written in English. On a system is primarily in Russian."
"Fuck. Okay. Let me ask around. Keep an eye out for anything you hear." Eraser mutters, then hangs up.
Izuku studies the listing some more. The way it's worded means it's quick. Hasty. Angry. Someone wants this done now. And from the sound of it, it's 20 million up front.
"What do you think, Sumi?" Izuku mutters, tapping his desk, as Sumi tilts her head at him
"Who would pay this much money to kill one person?"
"Pinky! Pinky! How do you think capturing the villain went today?"
"It wasn't easy. She was faster than I expected, but I'm just glad nobody got hurt." Mina's smiles, her teeth a bit bloody, showing the reporters the remnants of the villain's surprise attack on her, managing to give her a solid bloody nose.
"So, how do you think this will affect your ranking?" Another reporter asks, and Mina's eyebrow twitches.
"I don't particularly care, as I've said dozens of times. Ranking isn't important to me." Mina answers, crossing her arms
"But it does make you more money, does it not?"
"If I was in this only for the money, I wouldn't be doing it. Now, anyone have a real question?"
"Yes! Have you been out with any new suitors?"
Mina grit her teeth at the question. While she loved romance, being romantic, and everything that came with that, it was a bit of a sore spot for her. Her and Kirishima had dated leaving U.A., much like Bakugo and Ochaco, and Todoroki and Momo, but they had broken up around 8 months ago after a series of rather unforgiving fights. It left a sour taste in her mouth in regards to dating in general.
"No. I have not."
"So in the eigh-"
"This interview is over." A voice, gravely and angry, cuts in to her defense.
Katsuki Bakugo, Dynamight, the number 3 Pro Hero, steps in front of her, protecting his employee and fellow agency member of three years, with a scowl on his face accented by the half blind right eye and massive scar
"Bu-"
"As I have stated, no less then 2 dozen fucking times, questions about romance are forbidden to anyone in my agency, no matter who they are. Unless you want to be blacklisted, LEAVE!" Bakugo roars, and the paparazzi disperses, grumbling and muttering
"Why thank you, Bakugo." Mina snickers, a teasing tone infecting her voice
"Oh, fuck off. I know you don't like that shit." Bakugo sighs, walking with her back into the 'Golden Class' Hero Agency. It consisted of most of the 20 students from the former hero 'A' class that they were in. Only Aoyama, who was still serving time for heroic treason, and Mineta, who had been arrested a year and a half ago over an assault attempt, were either affiliated or worked in the main office. It made this agency by far the largest and most powerful in Japan, considering the sidekicks they employed.
"So, heard you had a run-in yesterday."
"What do you mean? Fuck, that hurts." Mina hisses, touching her nose
"An old friend of mine."
"Huh?"
"Izuku Midoriya. Ochaco talked me about it, and I saw the insurance quote."
"You know him?"
"We grew up together. I was a dick to him for a long time, we fought without quirks, I lost, and we figured it out. Good buddy of mine."
"...Why without quirks?"
"Decision we made."
"And you lost?"
"Yep. Skinny little fuck had been taking BJJ lessons without me knowing."
"He beat the great Katsuki Bakugo. In hand to hand combat."
"He could anybody in this agency in hand to hand."
"You're joking."
"I'm not."
"Shoji?"
"Yeah."
"Sato?"
"Easily."
"Kirishima?" Mina asks, the name still bitter
"He would kill his ass without barely any fight." Bakugo shrugs, as Mina stops in front of her office
"You're joking."
"Not in the slightest."
"So why isn't he a hero?" Mina asks, her voice genuinely curious, and Bakugo studies the woman, as if debating what to say.
"Not my place to say, to be honest. But he has his reasons."
"...So you're friends with a super rich guy, who's the best hand-to-hand fighter you've ever met, who isn't a hero, and is just a finance guy?"
"Yep."
"Is he Batman?"
"Ha! No, he ain't no Bruce Wayne. He doesn't get enough girls."
"You ratting on your boy like that?" Kirishima says, throwing an arm around him
"I ain't talkin about you, dumbass." Bakugo scoffs, punching him in the stomach, which does nothing.
"Uh-huh. Sure. Mina." Kirishima says, giving her a nod and a cold look. She doesn't return it.
"I ain't, trust me. Now whaddya want?" Bakugo asks, dragging the spiky-red head off.
Mina sighed, setting her head down on her desk. It was a long day. And it was only 8pm. 14 arrests, three fights, two cats saved, one parrot, and a partridge in a pear tree.
"How's the new apartment?"
"Kill me, please." Mina responds to Ochaco, who sighs, sitting down on her desk
"Long day?"
"Yes. And also, apparently penthouse guy is Batman who 'gets less girls' according to Bakugo."
"Ohhhhhhh. I knew he looked familiar."
"Wait. You've met him before?"
"Yeah. He shows up at Bakugo's parents place every once in a while, and I've been there before. Nice guy. Really good cook, if I remember right." Ochaco says, and Mina raises an eyebrow
"So he can cook, fight, is smart, rich, tall, and seems to work out?" Mina says, ticking the info off on her fingers
"I guess."
"Damn. Literally the perfect man."
"I'm...not sure I would say that, based on the way Kat talks about him." Ochaco admits, and Mina raises an eyebrow
"What do you mean?"
"He apparently grew up rough...but just...Kat won't say exactly, but he just has...issues."
"He gonna snap and kill someone?" Mina asks, and Ochaco shrugs
"I'm not sure, but I doubt it."
"God dammit." Izuku muttered, staring at the info packet Aizawa had managed to gather.
The buyer was American, which was a big base of customers, but who in America would want a Japanese Pro Hero dead? But also the IP address of the account, while it had been bounced, was located in Nothern Japan. Older phone, on a public internet cafe wifi, so any dozen of people.
As he sat there, his elevator dinged open, and in walked a familiar face.
"Aizawa."
"Kid."
"Info isn't great."
"It's all I could get."
"Hm. So how do we get more?"
"Hard to say. This job will go quick."
Izuku hummed, and debated.
"I can get the info."
"How?"
"I take the job."
"Are you insane?" Aizawa asks, stepping towards the green-haired man, who raises his hands
"Hear me out. I'm not going to complete the job. The Website stipulates that if the killer is put in undue, direct danger from the , the killer can retaliate. I can bend that rule."
"...You're going to remove the employer."
"Yes."
"And get paid. Win-win."
"...But the Website will know."
"They don't care. They just want their cut." Izuku says, and then looked down at the posting, and clicked accept.
Buyer01765: That was quick
DFA: It's a large job, and I am local to Japan.
Buyer01765: I see. Are you familiar with the nature of the job?
DFA: Yes.
Buyer01765: Are you capable of killing a pro hero?
DFA: Depending, yes.
Buyer01765: She's not particularly powerful.
"We have a female pro hero. Not incredibly powerful." Izuku says to Aizawa, who nods, and begins looking through a list.
DFA: Understood. Timeline?
Buyer01765: Job must be completed between March 28th and 31st. With one stipulation.
DFA: Understood. What is said stipulation?
Buyer01765: I need to be there to witness the death of that bitch.
"Buyer is angry. Holds some kind of personal vendetta." Izuku says, and Aizawa nods
DFA: Understood. I need a name for the target to understand my level of danger in order to allow that or not.
Izuku stared at his phone for a few seconds, then felt his jaw tighten.
"Well, fuck."
"Who is it?" Aizawa asks, as Izuku meets his gaze, his face grim.
"Mina Ashido."