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The day after the initiation that Izuku weathered through was nothing much besides a basic patrol around the neighborhood with Mirio. Izuku also found out that Togata's hero name was Lemillion as well. A rather befitting name for a hero as bright and powerful as him.

Their mission while out on patrol was to keep their eyes out for any suspicious individuals that were dressed in plague doctor masks. There were a total of nine individuals that looked the part with one individual being their leader. It seemed to be that the yakuza were up to something with no evidence to prove what they were doing was illegal in any way. A young man with jet black short hair with a plague doctor's mask covering only his mouth and jaw certainly was telling of the yakuza leader's confidence.

A brief synopsis of the yakuza's history was given to give Midoriya some context as to why this was suspicious. Years ago, the yakuza almost died out from mismanagement and eventual desertion on a massive scale. Only a husk of what they used to be remained.

For the last two weeks, Nighteye's agency was the leading hero institution that was pursuing the evidence needed to move forward on the case. None of their efforts yielded results in comparison to how active the yakuza were being. All they could do for now was search for some sort of opportunity to catch them in the act while out in public.

Emerald Paragon and Vermillion set out on their patrol, unaware of the involvement they would have in the near future with someone who would create a disaster unlike anything they could imagine.

Elsewhere

In an abandoned alleyway, a little girl with long flowing silver locks and a small horn protruding from the right side of her forehead was desperately trying to escape her pursuer. She was so exhausted that her lungs felt like they were twisting in her chest. Both her feet were hurting badly from running across the uneven asphalt without any sort of covering on them. Behind her, a menacing presence was taking its time to recover the scared child in order to put her back in her prison.

At the end of the alley, the little girl who went by the name Eri came crashing into someone who happened to be passing by at the time. Izuku was a little startled to find a little girl in a hospital gown and wrapped up in bandages crash into him from out of nowhere. There was clear evidence that she was running from something coming from out of the alley behind her.

Both feet were filthy with the skin looking slightly swollen from the lack of protection. Erratic breathing like she was running for her life. A look of sheer terror and underlying hope that she finally found someone who could help her. He didn't hesitate to kneel down and ask her what was wrong.

"Ah, there you are, Eri."

Out of the darkness of the alley came the man in the photograph that was identified as the current yakuza leader. His demeanor was that of someone bloated with enough confidence to think that nothing could touch them. Midoriya could feel his heart tighten at the mere idea that this monster was chasing down this poor child.

"I do apologize. My daughter can get carried away with her silly little games. Such a troublemaker, this one…"

Up ahead of the street, Lemillion saw the encounter and was about to move in to help disguise Paragon when he noticed the look in Midoriya's eyes. Nothing betrayed the knowledge of him knowing the yakuza leader nor revealed the anxiety mounting inside of the boy.

The inside of Emerald Paragon's head was a storm of fear that he was barely keeping a hold of. His calm demeanor was a front as he kept shielding Eri in his arms against the criminal. He did what he thought would be the best solution to diffuse as much of the tension and imitated someone he knew would find a way to say the right thing.

"No, no. I was in the way and she fell because of me."

With one look down at the frightened little girl, he gave her a reason to be more trusting of him.

"Sorry about that, kiddo. My name is Izuku. What's yours?"

"... E-Eri"

She managed to muster enough courage to look up at the kind boy who was trying to make her feel better. When she looked into Izuku's serene green irises, she saw someone in the young hero that was distinctly similar to someone else she knew.

"Eri. That's such a pretty name."

It was like his face and the face of the other man who said the same thing to her were overlapping in her mind. Her fear was forgotten about for a second as she felt safe for the first time in weeks. Maybe he would be able to help her.

Paragon looked directly at Chisaki, the yakuza leader, and asked the man the most obvious issue about the current scenario.

"Why is she bandaged up? It looks like you were chasing her for a while, too. I don't know any child who would run this far without shoes over a simple game."

Lemillion joined in the conversation a short while ago and saw what Izuku was referring to. The bottom of the girl's feet were absolutely filthy with signs of irritated skin and injuries. He was on the same page as Paragon now with the evidence presented to the two junior heroes. If a fight were to break out, they would be at a disadvantage with the street they were on filled with innocent civilians.

Chisaki shrugged his shoulders and relented that the issue he wished to discuss with them was a sensitive matter that required a little more privacy. They followed the villain into the mouth of the valley with just enough distance to still be obviously visible to the street behind them. It was then that Overhaul began to mouth off about the challenges of parenthood with a child as disobedient as Eri. His right hand was gently tugging at the left glove as all three innocent party members felt a chill down their spines.

Eri broke off from the protective grasp of Emerald Paragon to then stand right next to the man who she was just running away from like her life depended on it. Chisaki accepted Eri's offer to return without resistance and kept the gloves on for the moment. Without another word, she and the yakuza leader disappeared down the alleyway and were visibly swallowed by the darkness between the buildings.

Neither Izuku or Mirio went after them. That man clearly didn't have any issues of endangering lives to get his way. For now, they would have to regroup before they tried anything else.

Much Later

The first work day had ended on a pretty low note with what had transpired between him and Chisaki earlier. He was unwinding on his bed while staring at his phone like it would bring the girl he failed to save somewhere safe and sound. There was someone he desperately wanted to speak to, but was unsure if they would pick up his call.

Deliberating for over fifteen minutes gave him enough time to collect himself and bring up the person's contact from his phone's list. Each dial tone felt like it was dragging on for too long as he patiently waited for the person to answer his call. God, how he wanted them to pick up.

"... Yes?"

A sigh of relief as he heard the voice of his lifelong mentor on the other side of the call. Midoriya steadied himself before he began to speak.

"... H-hey, Haru-san. Can we talk?"

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

Nakamura immediately dropped the distant treatment that was the result of his feelings of neglect from Izuku and Bakugou. Now wasn't the time for personal grievances with Izuku genuinely needing him right now.

All of the day's most important events were shared while keeping the identities of the people ambiguous for confidentiality's sake. When push came to shove, Izuku failed to live up to his heroic code to save the innocent. This sort of guilt was something he had never felt before in his entire life. Dealing with the heavy emotions that came with his failure was something that he hoped Haru could help him process.

"Kiddo, I want you to listen to me. Okay? You said that little girl took off on her own, right?"

Reluctantly, Izuku hummed in confirmation as Haru continued to inform the naive young man.

"Then she knew that's what she needed to do. You did as well. If you wish to help her, honor her decision and do what you can on your end. Somewhere out there, she knows that you'll do what's needed in order to save her."

Even if it wasn't true, there was a poignant message that he was able to pick up on from Haru. Moping or feeling guilty would do nothing to help her or himself. What needed to happen was for him to keep himself prepared and strong for the moment she would show up on his radar once again. The only way he had the best chance of saving her was to make sure he was at top condition.

"This is the harsh and cruel reality of the world, Izuku. People will suffer no matter what. They'll die, suffer, or do something extreme that'll hurt others, but you as a hero cannot bend to that misery. It's what you signed up for, remember that."

Though it wasn't the most comforting thing he's heard from Nakamura, it did serve to strengthen the shaky parts of his heart that were wavering under his guilt. For now, he would accept that she was left in the dark until he could find her again. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late until then.

One last thing that Izuku wanted to share was how he felt as he held the child before letting her fall back into the grasp of the villain organization. Hearing the more specific details gave Haru a sinking sensation from the bottom of his chest. Izuku had glossed over the details when he told his mentor the event's of that day. Getting the specifics made Nakamura realize something much worse had occurred right underneath his nose.

Holding his tongue, he listened to the story of how it was the yakuza who were the ones that were beginning to act up in the past few weeks. How the leader was a young man with black hair who was the one leading the organization now. It was when he heard what the girl looked like he felt his heart sink to the bottom.

"That girl… I still remember what she looks like. It's like a photograph in my head I can't look away from. Every single strand of white hair… That horn on the right side of her head… The fear when-"

A loud crack on the phone cut Izuku off abruptly. His heart almost jumped out of his ribcage with how sudden it was. Midoriya asked the man if everything was alright as Haru remained silent for a few moments.

"... No. Sorry… I just… I think I forgot something. Just take care of yourself and be careful, okay?"

Both of them bid their farewells and hung up at the same time. While Izuku got ready for sleep, Nakamura quickly dialed a number on the now cracked phone to contact someone he knew he could trust to get to the bottom of the issue. Too much of this stunk to the high heavens of inner corruption coordinated enough to keep even him in the dark regarding the issue.

Later that Evening

A brokerage firm in the uptown area of the city had quite the reputation with the type of business they got from major financial entities in the Japanese market. Corporations were often visiting the esteemed institution of wealth to seek out business across the world and were often very successful. The truth of the matter was that this firm specialized in something that went just beyond money.

In exchange for business, all the designated big list clients were forced to resign significant control to the organization that would guarantee major earnings. Few were able to say no to such a lucrative deal. Those who had some self control eventually realized that the market was actively working against them and would often be forced into a contract to recoup their losses.

Many others in the country existed under different names, but this one had a very specific function in maintaining an asset for the organization. Something that was more or less something that was essentially a front for emergency cases.

Makano Hina was the primary manager of the brokerage and led the entire place like a well tuned clock. The work she did here was nothing short of stellar in comparison to the others. She was just about done with her work day when she received a call on her private line. This line was only used when someone in the organization needed to speak to her urgently. With a press of the connect call button, a panicked voice she knew to be one of the agents who overlooked her operation came through.

"Hina?! Hina! Hina, are you there?!"

"Wh-yes, why? What's wrong Ren?"

What he said next caused her to break out into a cold sweat. Nothing could have been worse for her as the one in charge of the accounts that were mentioned by her contact.

"The yakuza accounts! Listen to me carefully; Nakamura never approved any of those actions! He's on his way to where you are right now!"

Just then, the door leading into her glass booth office was kicked off its hinges and flew across the room hard enough to go out the opposite fixed panel. Storming into the office was a very pissed of Haru with a bunch of papers inside a manilla folder. Neither the agent nor the manager could speak as Nakamura slapped the papers onto the woman's desk and spread the paperwork across it with a single sweep of his left hand.

"Mind explaining to me why these accounts were signed off with these tasks without me even knowing about all this?"

This was a matter of life or death to the woman. Her oversight was critical in getting any sort of major action done at the firm. It was her sole responsibility to process Nakamura's personal requests whenever they involved accounts involved with her firm. Anything that happened there was her will because Haru permitted it.

Now he was steaming with the realization that someone had used his name to falsify approval right underneath his nose. He knew that she wasn't responsible, though what he did want from her was how the work was approved when his requests were treated with the utmost scrutiny.

"T-t-ther-there w-was an, an, an, um, a request… To approve an act of… An act of discretion that came through the channels… It, it was signed off with all the usual security approvals… I received the request several weeks-"

Haru didn't wait to hear the rest of her explanation as he used her desk's surface to access her personal computer. The entire desk was a clear piece of glass that functioned as a computer with the entire slab being an interactable surface. He logged in faster without the passcode than she did with it and searched the logs to find out how the requests came through. As he suspected, the IPs and records connecting to the falsified requests were apparently scrubbed from the system. A hiccup in comparison to what he was capable of.

Turning his attention to the frightened manager, he had an intense glare on his face as he instructed her next course of action with restrained wrath.

"Get these records cleared and start with a clean profile for these accounts."

Nakamura turned to leave while letting the manager hold onto the falsified documents that she would need to reference for all the work set up for her to complete.

"I'm gonna need it for when I shovel the shit out of my own fucking house."

Manako collapsed in her chair like a piece of discarded fabric before bawling her eyes out. Her contact agent did his best to comfort her through the phone with his own voice betraying the fear he felt listening in on the conversation. One thought that they shared was the question of who would be stupid enough to attempt such a brazen act of forgery against the organization.

Whoever it was, they were going to wish they were dead when Nakamura found them.

The Next Day

An executive of a real estate company was driven up to the high end highrise that served as the company's headquarters. His chauffeur exited the limo and opened the door for the well groomed man that was his employer. A man in his late thirties in a gray suit that was far more expensive than the limo itself entered the sliding doors and was greeted by everyone he walked by. This went on and on until he finally reached the floor that held his private office.

Greeting him as he exited the elevator was his personal secretary. She stood to bow at his arrival as he passed her by without a second thought. The entire floor was dedicated to his workspace alone with the need for both privacy and space to complete his work. Also, it didn't hurt to have an entire floor to himself.

Entering the private office, he noted the subtle aroma of coffee that was being prepared at the private brewing station he possessed in his office. Seeing the white hair and expensive formal wear alerted him that it was his superior who was in his office without his knowing. He immediately relaxed as he approached Haru from behind and bowed to the man.

"Nakamura-san, always a pleasure to see you again."

No response. All the man got from his boss was the sound of gurgling coffee being filtered through the mesh of the siphon that was just about done processing the caffeinated beverage. Two cups were silently taken from their resting spots at the bar and filled to the brim with the steaming brew expertly made by Nakamura himself.

Turning to the executive patiently waiting for him, Haru sipped his cup while watching the man smile at what he thought was his share of the brew.

"Ah, thank you. You're simply too kind, si-"

What had cut off the unsuspecting corporate leech was the cup full of burning hot coffee that was purposefully thrown at his face. He collapsed to the floor while screaming like a banshee while trying to wipe away at the burning liquid that was starting to blister the skin on his face. Nakamura wasn't satisfied with just that, and elected to make use of the rest of the coffee.

It would have taken too long to use the spout to properly pour the rest of the still boiling drink. Placing the cup he was drinking from on the bar, Haru used both hands to yank the entire siphon free from its fixture and brought the entire glass vessel over to the man still writhing in agony on the overpriced carpet. A siphon vessel was some of the most delicate glasswork out there commercially, so it shattered like a frozen balloon and deposited all the broken glass and hot coffee all over the man's torso.

As the tortured executive was desperately trying to wrestle off his clothes, Haru just returned to his coffee and just watched the man shuck his clothes off to see what the damage was. Every cut on his body from the dropped siphon stopped bleeding due to the blistering flesh that expanded inside of the wounds.

Even breathing was too painful for the wounded individual since every breath caused his skin to move ever so slightly. He could only lie still as the burning pain from all his wounds were now starting to sink in and register with his brain.

After finishing his coffee, Nakamura approached a stack of papers he had set there earlier for him to review with the severely burned executive. The gig was up for the man. What he thought to be a foolproof idea was all coming apart at the seams.

"... Twenty three signatures. You used my name twenty three times in order to keep me in the dark over your little act of pilfering the coffers."

Moving even an inch was pure hell for the man. He needed to find a way out if he wanted to have any hope of living past today. With the only surface of his body that wasn't causing him indescribable pain, he pitifully scooted on his back with his heels digging into the carpet. Haru didn't even acknowledge the feeble escape attempt as he kept reviewing the information he had to present.

"Not only did you try to steal when you were already gorged to the point of being overfed; you went as far as to inform the one who put our head operative of the yakuza itself in a coma about our existence. I can't seem to understand how somebody as brilliant as you was so stupid in thinking that I wouldn't find out eventually."

All the work that Haru went over really was expertly crafted in order for Nakamura to remain oblivious to his intentions. Accessing one of the servers that the organization used for their private communications and scrubbing through all that encrypted data wasn't an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. To then access the one line of communication that Haru used and controlling all the communication that he personally owned in order to keep him in the dark enough over the state of the yakuza was another feat in itself. If Haru wasn't so royally fucked off as he was, he would have considered an in depth discussion with the executive.

The amount of progress the burn victim made to the exit was barely half a meter towards the door. Having an entire torso covered in blisters was not a level of pain anybody with a working sense of physical touch could endure nonchalantly. It was ideal for Haru since he wanted to make this hurt as much as possible.

"Even in normal society, an act of conspiracy is a death sentence. All of this is your fault as I'm the one who now has to clean up the mess that both you and that little shit Chisaki made."

Papers were strewn all over the room as Nakamura tossed the incriminating evidence over his shoulder. A few sheets fell on the agonizing burn victim and were splotched with blood and other bodily fluids. The fine italian suit jacket was draped over the back of the leather chair behind the fine wooden desk. Without any sort of prompt, a handful of the wooden desk was ripped out by Haru's bare hand.

He stood over the terrified man who was too exhausted to try an escape. Haru looked upon the splintered wood while recalling something he felt was appropriate to mention to such a shit sucking animal like the man who was now starting to piss himself.

"... A few years ago, I once threatened a man with his own desk. I told him I would feed him all the broken glass his desk was made of. He never even swallowed a single shard of it, to my disappointment."

A look of horror was etched across the blistered face of the former executive. His teeth were smashed into the back of his throat when Haru wedged his fingers into the clenched jaw of his next victim.

"Although it's not the same, I think we can make this work if we both try hard enough…"

There was no more talking from then on. All one could hear if they got close enough to the office were the gagged screams of a man who was wishing that he could just die over this torture. No such luck for him as this went on for hours.

Hours Later

As instructed, a clean up crew were at the scene with all their equipment ready to go. They all approached the office and were about several meter's away when Nakamura exited the office. Not a single square inch of him was not covered in blood. His suit was ruined and unsalvageable in the state it was in. It was what the cleaning crew saw behind them that gave a few of them a reason to take pause over how unbelievable of a sight the room was in.

In the opposite ballpark of their reaction, Haru reached for a towel the cleaners were instructed to bring to him for all the blood still staining his hair and face. Almost all the blood was wiped away from his white hair, save for the orangy tint at his roots that would require something better than a towel to completely remove. Tossing the towel to the floor, he went to clean himself off at the showers before he moved on to the next state of affairs.

Meanwhile, the men who were charged with removing what was left of the traitor off the ceiling, floors, walls, and everything else also made certain to get a sample of his blood inside of a labeless bottle of rice wine. Those who were involved would drink to their compatriot's demise knowing full well that they were already on death's door if anything noteworthy even made a passing fancy next to them.

For Haru, he just wanted to avoid the thing that caused all of this ceremony to occur. Right now, a child was in need of his help. A mistake that he made that Eri was now paying for.

Meanwhile

Curled up on a bed far below the street surfaces of Musutafu was a crying child. The day's session hurt so much and left her whimpering at the trauma of being Overhaul's guinea pig. As she was weeping all by her lonesome, a man bearing the gift of a toy came waltzing in like he was some sort of family friend.

Really, he was charged with watching Eri after the last man in charge of her was rendered to a bloody stain in the hallways. There was no actual attempt to hide his annoyance over being charged with babysitting. He callously told Eri to take the toy before leaving the room with the toy on the floor. Now back in the darkness of her room, the little girl was allowed to go back to the one good memory as of late.

She could remember the kindness of that boy who wanted to save her before Chisaki threatened the heroes with death. The warmth she felt was unmistakably similar to the nice man who she met before all this hell came crashing down upon her.

Several Months Ago

Eri was wandering the mansion by her lonesome while her grandpa excused himself to go and meet up with someone he needed to talk to in private. Chisaki Kai was charged with watching the girl, but the way he looked at her made the girl incredibly uncomfortable. It was like he was guessing her weight like she was a piece of steak or pork at the butchers.

With some difficulty and deceit, she managed to get away from the creepy man and was now able to take in the sights of the mansion. Whenever she heard someone coming around the corner, she would either go a different direction or hide. It was even a little fun for Eri to go sneaking around like a secret agent. So far she wasn't caught as her newfound freedom was savored for all it was worth.

While wandering the hallways, what she first lied to Chisaki about suddenly became of concern for her. Despite being the newest arrival to the estate, she had a good enough mental map of the mansion to know where the nearest restroom was. Her search brought her to a restroom that was relatively close to where her grandpa had his meeting with the mysterious stranger she couldn't see.

In her urgency to relieve herself, the lack of security guards went unnoticed as she turned the corner of the hallway that possessed the bathroom. It wasn't bad enough that she felt like she was going to wet herself, though it was getting uncomfortable nonetheless.

Making a mad dash for relief caused her to almost collide with the leg of a man who was exiting the toilet. Panic set in as she was sure that she would be punished for leaving Chisaki's care. Instead of a scary voice accusing her of leaving her bodyguard, someone she couldn't recognize by sound alone spoke to her.

"Woah there, you okay?"

Looking up, a man with white hair and beard looked slightly surprised at the sudden appearance of a young girl. Words were lost to her as she was fidgeting and looking around nervously. She didn't know what to do now.

"You need to use the toilet? Go ahead, I'll make sure nobody comes by."

Rather than looking a gifted horse in the mouth, Eri graciously took the man up on his offer. Outside of the restroom, Nakamura lit a cigarette inside of the home while standing in the hallway as a lookout. There shouldn't have been anyone in the part of the house he was in considering that his identity was only known by a handful of the yakuza members in the mansion. They called the men away from this restroom specifically so that Nakamura could relieve himself uninterrupted.

Considering that any unauthorized member who saw him would have to be killed and disposed of immediately. A small child definitely didn't fit that requirement for a discreet execution.

The sound of the toilet flushing followed by the sink being used alerted the man that his smoke break was over. He snuffed the remaining ember and just flicked the butt into a vase a few meters away. Eri exited the bathroom with both hands still dripping wet, since she didn't have a handkerchief on her when she went into the bathroom. Not knowing what to do with her wet hands left her just holding them in the air to drip dry.

Out of mercy for the child's predicament, Haru pulled out his blue silk handkerchief to dry the girl's hands for her. Her hands were so much smaller and weaker in comparison to the man's larger and stronger ones. That difference didn't seem to affect the way that Haru gently took her hands into his own to wipe them free of the excess moisture.

Taking a step back, he smiled proudly at the state of the now dried off hands. He knelt back down and asked Eri if she was lost inside the large mansion. Being a bit shy, she could only shake her head no in response. Things didn't seem off with the girl, so Nakamura bid the girl goodbye and turned to return to his meeting with the yakuza leads. Stopping him was Eri's hesitant grip on the vent of Haru's finely tailored suit. Although she didn't say it, she didn't want to go back to Chisaki.

Clearly the child was avoiding the security that had every reason to protect her rather than do her harm. He knew of the sordid past that the current acting leader of the yakuza disclosed to Nakamura about how his grandchild came under his care. The lack of control that Eri possessed caused her to regress her father by accident into nonexistence. Rewind, while a very useful quirk, was a very dangerous power without the necessary experience to control it. Her own mother became terrified of the girl's power and simply shipped her off to Eri's grandfather.

Again, he knelt down to Eri's eye level to talk to the little girl over what was bothering her. The fact that she latched onto a stranger wasn't exactly the most comforting thought Haru had at the moment.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?"

A nervous nod from the child confirmed yes.

"Do you want to stay with me?"

Silence was all she could give over her uncertainty.

"Do you want to see your grandpa?"

Another nod that was a little more confident than the last. With that, Nakamura took the little girl's hand into his own and walked with her back to the meeting where her grandfather sat with the other representatives of Nakamura's organization. When he arrived hand in hand back at the meeting, the head of the yakuza stood to attention and was about to say something to his granddaughter before Nakamura stopped him. He didn't let go of her hand, even as a glow from her quirk was starting to go off.

They all knew about the power that Eri had, about how unstable it was and could risk the lives of anybody she touched. All of them were forced to sit down with Nakamura starting to get ticked off at the behavior they were exhibiting that caused her to react the way she did. Every yakuza member in that room was frozen solid with fear for a brief moment and remained silent after they managed to collect themselves.

Eri was scared. She knew that her power was the thing that caused her family great pain, and now the kind man who was the first person in a very long time that treated her with care. Rather than letting go of the girl's hand, Haru knelt down to the girl's eye level and brought the girl's face into his shoulder while gently stroking the top of her head to help with ridding her of her anxiety.

"It's okay. You're not hurting anybody. It's okay. You're okay."

Gradually she was starting to relax into the gentle embrace that Haru gave the child. Her tears began to pour freely as she realized how nice it was to be treated with kindness after so long. She couldn't even remember what it was like; it's been so long. Nakamura let the little girl have her crying session while the other yakuza members were dismissed by Haru with a subtle point of his head towards the other exit.

It took some time, but eventually the little girl was able to cease her tears. Haru could see the child was a bit too mindful of others with a look of concern for the wet spot on his suit. He chuckled while presenting the blue silk handkerchief from earlier for Eri to dry her tears. Going above that, he even asked her to blow her nose while he held the handkerchief like a father would for their own.

He tucked the expensive square of fabric back into his jacket pocket as Eri was starting to doze off. The child was seriously lacking any sort of parental guidance, which gave Haru quite a bit of concern for the small child. Her grandfather was still fearful of the girl for good reason, along with the rest of the mansion. What he needed to do was find out some sort of way she could still be here with her real family while getting the nurturing environment she needed.

Before any sort of planning could start, the most immediate action needed was to provide at least some form of human comfort to the child before he had to leave for the evening. Gently, he hefted the little girl into his arms and held her against him with his forearm supporting her weight. His other hand went to work patting the child's back while Eri slept peacefully against Nakamura's shoulder.

Only the boss returned after some time to be the only one to watch as a man he thought to be death itself caring for his grandchild. Nakamura was even humming some sort of folk tune he couldn't recognize while pacing the room with the sleeping child. Even when the boss came to his granddaughter's room to watch her sleep, he had never seen her face so peaceful and serene. A mountain of complicated emotions over how distant he had been with his child's daughter. As a man who was charged with looking after his own, he failed to meet Eri's needs.

Before leaving for the evening, Haru asked for directions to the girl's bedroom to tuck her in for the night. About a minute or so was all it took to travel from the study to Eri's bedroom. Entering the sparsely decorated room confirmed more of his suspicions of why she was so timid inside her own home.

Without others to interact with or a diverse enough environment, Eri was essentially shriveling up with the lack of proper human interaction. What she needed was to go to school and be with other kids her age. To go outside and play freely and enjoy the time she had as a child without a care in the world. Something that wasn't this gilded prison surrounded with men who only cared about the girl to a professional capacity.

As Haru put the girl to sleep, she began to stir and groan at being woken up. From her perspective, she was glad she did so since she managed to see Haru before he left. The lamp next to her bed was flicked on so that she could get a proper look at him before he took off. Although she didn't want to say goodbye, Nakamura diffused her concern by asking her a question that should have been asked from the very beginning.

"Hey, hey; it's okay. Don't worry, we'll see each other again. It's a little late for this, but my name is Nakamura. You can just call me Haru. What's yours?"

"E-Eri."

"Eri? Wow, that name is so pretty."

She began to nod off to dreamland once more while gripping onto Haru's hand like her life depended on it. He told the girl that he wanted to leave his handkerchief with her until the next time they saw one another. It was a promise he made with her to give the child hope for the days ahead of her. No child deserved to be deprived of kindness like she had been.

Clicking the light off, the door was silently closed behind him as he exited the child's bedroom. There was a discussion with the yakuza boss that Nakamura used to inform the senior that Eri was to be cared for like a proper child. Seeing no other option, both as his job and duty as a grandparent, a bow and oath was made with Haru before he left for other urgent matters.

If he knew what his absence would have entailed, Haru would have never left the child there to begin with. Leaving her to that hell would be his greatest regret from that night.

Present Time

Tucked inside of her gown was a built in pocket that was a feature from the manufacturer the yakuza purchased from. She pulled out the same handkerchief that she received from Nakamura that night before he left. After checking it for any damage, she sighed a breath of relief to see it still immaculate as she remembered it being. That handkerchief was all she had left to help her maintain hope.

Like it was her own child, Eri gently tucked the blue piece of square silk into her pillowcase to keep it hidden. Whenever times were hard, she would remind herself that the nice man who promised to see her again was out there somewhere looking for her. The reasoning was lost on her as her hopes of rescue were miraculously being answered without her knowing.

A man hellbent on completely annihilating the shell of a facade he simply allowed to exist was already coordinating a strike on the unsuspecting criminals. One thing he knew that was for certain was that nobody was going to leave that building without being in a body bag or a bucket.