Guild Master here again, again.
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The evenings at the luxury district contrasted the rest of societal norms. Daytime left the entire area almost abandoned with the few stragglers looking to shop for the most prestigious products on the market. It was the nightlife that summoned the real denizens of the rich that relished in their true nature.
In the epicenter of this place was a club called The Inner Mask. A place that only those who commanded the greatest of respect in the true world of those in command could enter. The line out front was primarily for the naive young souls who were lucky enough to enter based on random requirements set by upper management. This place still needed to keep up appearances, after all.
A foreign import pulled into the private parking area where only the most prestigious of the top were allowed to drive into. Those standing guard greeted the vehicle with prestige as it entered the executive parking area. Parking their vehicle in front of the underground elevator with executive staff ready to honor their recent arrival, twenty two immaculately groomed attendants all bowed to the man who got out of his vehicle before he tossed his keys to the most experienced attendant amongst their numbers. None of the other employees questioned the decision as they didn't want to run the risk of making any mistakes with the parking of his vehicle in specific.
This attendant had been this person's only trusted choice whenever he showed up to the club. Only he could touch the individual's vehicle when they came to visit the owner of the club.
The elevator had nobody else in it as the man rode it to a floor unknown to even the most prestigious of guests. Arriving at the floor, he strode out of the elevator and walked with purpose to the office he had intended on visiting more than anything else that evening.
Everyone he passed all bowed without hesitation when they caught wind of his presence. This treatment had been expected from those besides the man who earned such respect. Approaching an office with a solid glass front with a single glass door, the man pushed the door to enter the extravagant space with a full aquarium on the opposite wall. While the owner of this entire club was temporarily out on business, another person was the actual purpose of this individual's visit.
Passed out on one of the couches in the office, a young man with papers draped over his face had been sound asleep with even more paperwork strewn about the coffee table he used as his work surface. On the thirty million yen coffee table sat an open laptop with a slew of data and charts that the slumbering person had been referencing for their important training into the role they were given by the person who now entered the office.
More than irritation or anger, there was sympathy and bemusement at the young man's expense as the one who arrived just chuckled under his breath.
Rather than just being brash, the available seating at the foot of the couch where the young man slept got taken by the man who arrived. He even lit a cigarette and smoked in leisure before he just flicked the knee sticking up out of the mess of papers.
"Ah! Fuck, I'm up! I'm up!"
Much to the dismay of the person who woke up just now, a soft chuckle let the individual know that he wasn't actually in any sort of trouble.
"Evening, Touya. You sleep well?"
A harsh breath out of the white haired man with scars now being revealed from out of the piles of paper that covered his face indicated how drained he felt in reality. Still, he greeted the man who woke him up with amiability along with some subtle warmth in his voice.
"What time is it?"
A quick update on the time and date by the man who woke him up left the former villain Dabi with the information that he slept for only two hours just now.
"...Fuuuuck."
"Well, It can't be that bad."
Checking over the computer screen left open, the person who woke up Touya found himself having to backtrack a little on his words.
"... Or maybe it is."
All he got as a response from Touya was a frustrated sigh as the young man rubbed his face with both hands.
"What the hell am I doing wrong, Haru-san?"
Based on how disheveled Touya's dress shirt and slacks were, Haru just told the ambitious leader in training to do the most beneficial thing for their sake.
"Go take a shower, ask for a girl, and come back here within two hours. I'll have this sorted out before you get back."
Nakamura just picked up the laptop and started to pick up the slack on the work that seemed a bit too chaotically slapped together. Touya couldn't find it in himself to disagree as he did exactly as was advised to him by his other mentor. It actually relieved Haru a little to see that Touya was making remarkable progress as a potential inheritor for the role he entrusted to the diligent former villain. At this rate, Touya would become capable of inheriting Akihara's role within just a few years. Well before the deadline assigned to him by Nakamura himself.
Several Months Ago
Approaching The Inner Mask club on foot wasn't a logistical error on Nakamura's part to bring a car. He genuinely wanted time to think after letting Masara's son be captured by a villainous organization. Katsuki had been his personal responsibility, yet the boy now was a prisoner to some of the most dangerous individuals in the country. A mother mourned the potential loss of her only remaining family and he had a hand in allowing that to happen. Leaving Mitsuki alone in her misery was unacceptable for Haru.
Passing by the line that stood for hours in front of the prestigious club had many of the rambunctious young adults who were waiting for so long yell at the man who just bypassed the waiting queue. Nakamura didn't give a shit for spoiled adults as he was given full respect by the many bouncers in front of the club when he strode past them. The doors were swung wide open with every single employee giving the man their full respect when he entered the building. About eight people waiting in line had their asses kicked when they got too out of hand after Nakamura made his entrance. Needless to say, the bouncers were actually eager to continue their shifts after they let off steam from beating the shit out of a bunch of spoiled rich pricks.
The club was in full swing when Nakmura passed by the electrifying crowds all enraptured with the high end entertainment of an exclusive talent from America rapping on stage. His artistic lyricism drove the crowds into pure dark euphoria as he was also the one to compose his music from the ground up. If one thing could be considered as a natural talent of his most trusted man; being a club owner certainly sat on top of the list of their many talents.
Drinks, drugs, and sexual talent were all being expertly managed and distributed to all the patrons of the club. Their patronage in the club was just to disguise the actual business that occurred within the building itself. This place remained to be the safest place for illicit business to happen between some of the most powerful people in the world.
Wars, trafficking, political influencing; it all could happen here without concern, as long as the business would be within the acceptable parameters of Nakamura's conditions. At the end of the day, his say was the most significant of all.
Deep within the club, someone who possessed more power than all these supposed influential figures sat upon a throne that nobody else could hold. This person held true power over how the world would be. Their decisions were inarguable. His hold over the direction the modern world would go didn't have any leeway with being argued with. Only one person held any sort of control over what he had to say.
Entering an office tucked deep into the upper floors of the building, a man by the name of Akihara Sato had his head deep into a contract that he needed to close out with the EU before the end of the week. These government officials always gave the man a massive headache regarding their bureaucracy. He knew he could do it, it just frustrated him that these idiots wanted to feel so official by giving him a useless runaround. A call by his secretary had the man answer with more aggression than he would like.
"What?"
"I apologize, Akihara-san. A man by the name of Nakamura is here to see you."
This person didn't need to warn Sato whenever they visited. The heads up fell into the courtesy that Haru had for being polite to the man who controlled everything that Nakamura entrusted Akihara with.
"Send him up immediately. Give him anything he requests."
"Yes, sir."
Sato straightened himself out, though it wasn't really necessary for a person who kept himself as immaculate as Akihara did on a daily basis. This person commanded every bit of respect possible from him. Keeping his office perfect for this person's visit remained to be his most important task of all above the other menial tasks he was charged with.
Haru finally entered the luxurious office with Sato seated at his desk. His admiration of the man who put him in such a position of power was anything but superficial.
"Nakamura-san. Please, have a seat."
Pulling up the chair in front of his desk for Nakamura, Haru graciously accepted the courtesy from the most powerful man in the country. Both men got comfortable with Haru even pulling out a cigarette to smoke. Akihara even pulled out an ashtray for Haru from out of a personal drawer he had installed into his high tech desk. Sato called for an assistant to bring in drinks for Haru and himself. The only reason Sato included himself in that order was due to the fact that he knew how much Nakamura hated to drink alone with company present. In no time at all, luxury lager and whiskey for company present were brought into the office.
The gorgeous waitress who entered the office found it strange that the usually vacant chair in her boss's office had someone sitting in it. Her time here had that chair empty, even in light of extremely privy company. This had been the only time she saw the chair that never saw anybody in it filled with this one person's presence. Context alone had her act in the most professional capacity possible.
"It's alright, Yumei. Don't feel pressured by my presence here."
He even called her out by name. Though she acknowledged the request, she did her best to remain on top of her behavior. She left the men to discuss their business after delivering them their refreshments.
Things were not as serious as Sato first thought as Nakamura requested some reports regarding the villain activity in light of the League of Villain's activities. He knew better than to question Nakamura for the cause of such easily accessible information from him. All the information he needed reached Haru's hands within less than a few minutes in a neatly organized manilla folder.
After receiving the information, Nakamura then looked his number one man in the eyes with a stare that told Sato that the real reason Haru stopped by was for more than just a courtesy visit. Sitting up straight, Sato heard Haru out as the man told the man that he had a very serious request to make of the country's current leader. Its true leader.
"Sato, I need you to personally attend to this request I have for you…"
Several Weeks Later
Sitting in one of the abandoned construction sites that stood over the place that made up Nakamura's hidden home, Haru and Touya sat on one of the abandoned levels of an incomplete building with only the floors and steel beams providing any semblance of a building. Touya had been pulled from the League of Villains after the Bloody Daiba Massacre. Few people knew the truth as to why so many people died in that incident; even fewer knew the reason why it all happened the way it did.
"... So who is this guy you want me to meet? You seem rather keen that I meet him, Haru-san."
"He's someone you're going to learn from regarding a very important role I think you are going to benefit from. Just hang tight, kiddo."
Patience wasn't a virtue that Touya exercised for a good majority of his life on the run. For this person, he left well enough alone and just waited until they showed themselves to him.
The elevator came to life and started to bring the mysterious stranger that Haru wanted Touya to meet up to the floor they both sat on. Waiting for the elevator to complete its task had revealed a dapper looking man well into his seventies approaching the men who had been waiting for his arrival.
Not a lot about the man impressed Touya. His life as a wandering criminal left the younger man a bit underwhelmed at the new presence who casually approached him and Nakamura. Haru had the complete opposite reaction to this person's arrival as he offered his hand to the older looking man. They shook hands before Haru introduced the man he wanted Touya to meet.
"Touya, I would like for you to meet the most powerful man in the country. His name is Akihara Sato."
Much to the former criminal's surprise, the older man seemed to be nothing more than a businessman well into their senior years. Giving Sato a once over, the younger man couldn't tell if this senior was just a test to see if Touya could smell bullshit or if this old fogey was nothing more than a cunning corporate suit that only saw the logistical side of things regarding the country's affairs. It certainly didn't seem that this old guy could even hold his own in a scrap against a twelve year old. Detecting the confusion that had Touya a bit befuddled, Nakamura just chuckled at Touya's expense.
"What?"
Feeling left out of the loop had Touya act a bit defensive at what Nakamura seemed to know while he was clueless.
"Sorry, kiddo. I should have elaborated that this man is not the most powerful in this country with his intellect alone."
What Haru said next genuinely confused Touya.
"He already killed you about ten minutes ago."
That bit of information went straight over his head like a shooting star. Before he could even ask what Haru had been talking about, the fire quirk user suddenly heard the softest chirp from right on top of his right shoulder.
"Don't make any sudden movements, kiddo."
Taking the advice to heart, Touya slowly turned his head to see that there was a bright gold hummingbird perched right upon his shoulder. It looked innocent enough with its innocent animalistic behavior giving it the look of a typical little bird that didn't know any better. Flitting head movements and chirping made this creature seem harmless at first glance.
"I think you should show him, Sato."
Without any hesitation, Akihara snapped his right fingers to command the petite hummingbird that glowed like liquid sunshine to start flying into the distance. All around the abandoned construction site, acres of forest covered the landscape. This isolation gave Sato the perfect environment to demonstrate why he didn't need an entourage with him at all times.
Flying into the distance, the hummingbird disappeared from sight and left Touya genuinely confused as to what this was all about. He got his answer as to why the bird flew for so long when a deafening explosion from almost half a kilometer away erupted out of nowhere. Even the air pressure from the explosion could be felt from where he stood. Touya had to calm his startled heart as the other two more experienced men just waited until the youngest amongst their ranks finally calmed down enough after such a display of raw power.
"Singing Sun. Sato can control over a thousand of these birds that can explode with more power than a modern grenade. Each."
This sort of context to the power that Sato possessed left Touya speechless. Haru told him that he was already dead over ten minutes ago. He didn't even realize that the bird produced from this senior's quirk had landed on him before Nakamura told him about the damn thing. There was no exaggeration when he said that Sato had killed him ten minutes ago. A hummingbird with so much destructive power in its body made Akihara one of the deadliest killers in this country already; if not the world.
His life was already over when the hummingbird got within several meters of him.
There was no doubt that this person was anything but the most powerful man in the country, if not the world. Raw power alone put this elderly man as the deadliest thing that existed as a quirk user.
Now Touya genuinely couldn't figure out the purpose of this meeting. Here existed one the greatest potential killers in known history with Nakamura being the one who still seemed to be the one in command of the whole situation. Nothing about this made any sense to the young adult who didn't know why this whole meeting had him involved with this dangerous individual. Haru relented and just spelled it out for Touya.
"This man is in control of every activity that occurs in Japan. All legal and less than legal matters don't happen unless he has a say in such things. The ESD itself is his matter to dictate without my impute. The reason why I want to introduce you to him is this…"
Nakamura stood from the stack of bricks that served as his temporary seat. Facing Touya with a look of absolute resolution, he shared the most shocking thing that Touya never imagined would have been said to him in this life or the next.
"You will be the inheritor of his position. I'm offering you the position of being the most powerful person in the country. If you are willing, Sato himself will teach you all he knows to be the next inheritor of his position."
Present Time
After just an hour, Touya returned to Nakamura with all the necessary corrections to the work he had already completed. Being a hard ass in this situation would lend little help to the one Haru trusted to be this world's next corrective measure. Only true guidance in the right direction would give Touya the opportunity to be the best he can be to help this world be the best it can be.
"Alright. So let's go over what we can do better here…"
Touya felt his spirit strengthen in the face of the hardships ahead of him. Ever since he was a kid, he wanted to be a hero that could save lives. Now he saw that maybe he could do more good as someone who truly had some control over what could happen in the future.