05/10/2024
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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 57 - It's a Miracle!
Izuku was a bit surprised by how many people were around. There'd been people around when he went to UA but that was only a limited number of people really. And then when he'd moved to the bar, he'd mostly been in the company of the villains. That was five to six people. He'd gotten used to that feel.
Now he was at Sensou-ji. It was a temple, and it was a weekday and it was crammed with people. He hadn't found the people he was here to see but had Yakuni, Twice and Himiko with him. Yakuni was at a bit of a distance from them. If something happened, then Yakuni wouldn't immediately be associated with them.
Both Twice and Himiko were in civilian garb. That meant Twice was unmasked and wearing a shirt and pants. Himiko's hair was down, and she was wearing a skirt and shirt. It made them look normal and wasn't their usual attire so if someone saw them, they wouldn't immediately think of them as villains.
That was the hope.
"Can you see them?" Izuku asked.
Everyone shook their heads. He sighed but wasn't surprised. They had said where to meet but Sensou-ji was a big complex. Instead, he got out his phone and tapped through to messages. Giran, do you have time to talk now? Izuku sent quickly.
"Who ya talking to?" Himiko asked curiously, looking over at his phone.
"Need to finalise the bodyguard for Kamoni," Izuku explained as his phone buzzed. Yes. "I have to check if Giran got in touch with the guy," he added before hitting dial on Giran's number. It didn't take long for the broker to pick up.
"Dragon," he greeted him, "you should know by now I'll always take your calls," Giran chided him slightly.
He wasn't sure what to say to that. He knew what Giran meant but it was going to take him a while to come to expect people to respond to him. "I don't want to interrupt," he replied.
"You aren't an interruption," Giran told him. "Now, how can I help?" The broker, thankfully, moved to business.
"Did you get in touch with him?" Izuku asked. "The quirkless man," he added the description, cringing slightly at the words. Surely, he had a better way of talking about the man?
"Of course, I got in touch with Muko," Giran replied immediately without even thinking about it.
"He's okay to act as a bodyguard?" Izuku asked. He had told Muko at the time that he might have work, but he hadn't had a chance to find out what Muko could do. That had been Giran's job.
"Definitely."
"And he's happy with the rate?"
Giran chuckled. "He's happy with the rate. You know he'd be happy with almost anything," the broker added.
"I'm not taking advantage of anyone," Izuku said firmly. "There's a woman named Kamoni. She works at the supermarket near the bar," he explained. "She's the one who needs guarding."
"Any particular risks?"
Izuku thought about that for a moment. "I don't think so. Her husband sent some thugs after her but they won't try something if she has a guard."
"I'll let him know," Giran said, and Izuku got the impression he was going to find out more about Kamoni anyway. That was fine. He could use the information on Kamoni's husband as well.
"I will be dropping in on her husband to explain the situation," Izuku told the broker.
"Ah," Giran chuckled. "That will help," he added.
For a moment Izuku wondered what he meant, and then he understood. Since Muko didn't have a quirk, and would likely be up against those with them, there had to be something to level the playing field.
"By the way, Dragon, a little bird indicated you might be giving some quirks away?"
Izuku was surprised that the broker had heard that but on the other hand it was Giran's job to know these things. "I think the news should be interesting in a little while," he said, not answering but giving enough away for Giran to know he was right.
The broker was silent for a moment before he gave a snort of laughter. "Oh, it will be," he agreed. "I'll catch you later, Dragon," he added.
"Wait," Izuku objected.
"Hmm?"
"How are you going getting the materials?" Izuku asked, conscious that he was surrounded by people. While it was unlikely anyone would be listening to his conversation specifically, it was best to be circumspect.
"The ah…" Giran considered his phrasing. "Pre-quirk problem removers?"
"Exactly," Izuku chuckled. That was a good way of putting it. He liked quirks. He used quirks but he was fully aware that they were not the only way to solve problems. He wasn't after guns though. They were tracked, and even on the black market there was a bit too much heat with them. He was after explosives. After all, if you used it in the right way, you didn't need to take a second shot.
"I'm working on it still," Giran admitted. "Your… err desired yield requires the good stuff."
"Keep me posted," Izuku replied, nodding even though the broker wouldn't see it.
"Will do. I'll speak to you later."
"Yep, later," Izuku agreed as he hung up.
"All done?" Twice asked.
"All done," Izuku confirmed. "Have you seen them?" He asked Yakuni.
"Over there," the young man said, jerking his head slightly.
Izuku looked and it took him a moment to spot the group. Once he did though, it was impossible not to know who they were. They had dressed to fit in but there was something about them that meant they stood out. Maybe it was just the way they felt or looked around. There were four of them. One was an older man. His hair was graying and had that odd salt and pepper look. He had a thin mustache and was lightly built. He had a shirt on with a tracksuit jacket over it. It wasn't a good look. Two were younger men. One was overweight and was obviously pudgy while the other was very handsome. He had a red tinge to his hair and clear skin. They all had clear skin. The last one was a woman. She had long hair that was fixed in a single bun, held in place with hair sticks. The way she moved… Izuku got the feeling that she wanted to wear formal clothing but had been told no. It was just the way she looked to him.
The group was looking around, ignoring the gap between them and the other tourists and Izuku saw when they spotted Yakuni. The older man nodded and then directed the others to move towards them.
From the way they moved, Izuku could tell they were uncertain but he couldn't blame them for that. They had a good position off to the side of the temple, out of the steady stream of people. Interestingly, it appeared that the older guy would hold back slightly but he was forced forward by one of the younger men.
"You Dragon?" the young man demanded as he approached. He wasn't stupid enough to yell but he did want answers.
"I might be," Izuku replied dully, letting the man know that his good looks were not going to be enough to let him get away with being rude.
The guy smiled, and tossed his head back. It made the longer, redder hair at the top of his head catch the light. He was obviously a bit vain.
"Can you-" the girl gulped and looked down. "Can you really do what they've said you can?" she asked, still looking at the ground.
"What have they said I can do?" Izuku asked gently. He didn't like the way she refused to look at him. He knew what that meant. She'd been crushed too often to have hope.
She gulped again and reached up to wipe tears from her eyes. The overweight guy reached out to pat her arm comfortingly. "They said you can give us a quirk," he replied on her behalf.
"Daiki Yaoyorozu made it pretty clear that I can take quirks," Izuku shrugged.
"Yeah, but he also said you can give them back," the red head announced.
"So he did," Izuku agreed.
"Well, can you?" the guy demanded, glaring at him.
Izuku waved down Himiko who he could tell was about to hiss at the guy. He kind of liked the attitude. "What's your name?" He asked instead of answering.
The guy considered the question before he shrugged. "Goumanya," he said. "Goumanya Rou," he gave his full name.
"And if you got a quirk from me, what would you do with it?" Izuku asked. He was kind of curious but with the question he realised he really didn't care what they did with these quirks. Obviously, he wanted them to advertise that they had them but if they were then law abiding citizens that would be okay, or if they became villains he wouldn't care. They could even try to be heroes, but Izuku thought they'd probably face too many prejudices for that to be a realistic option. There'd be suspicion because they took a quirk from him before anyone even considered being prejudiced about their age or their former quirkless status.
"Gonna leave the quirkless losers!" Goumanya announced. "I'm tired of being looked down upon so I'm gonna show everyone!"
Izuku nodded. Unless one of the others surprised him, he knew exactly which quirk Goumanya would be getting. "And the rest of you?"
The older guy sighed. "I'm Unten Shu," he introduced himself. "I'll try to get some regular work," he said. "I have qualifications but no experience," he explained.
"Got through school okay?" Izuku murmured the question.
"Yeah, it wasn't quite as bad… I'm not gonna say back in the day but even a few years back, it wasn't that bad," he explained with a shrug.
"And you?" Izuku asked the overweight guy. With the quirks he had, Momo's would be the most suitable for him.
"I just don't want to be looked down upon anymore," he said, agreeing with Goumanya.
"You going with him?" Izuku asked, lifting his chin slightly to refer to the red head.
The guy considered it.
"Shibou-" The girl whispered his name.
The young man identified as Shibou shook his head. "I'll try to help the community," he said.
"Pft!" Goumanya huffed, rolling his eyes. "And we already know what Rakura is gonna do," he spat.
"What is Rakura going to do?" Izuku asked curiously.
"She's gonna try to finish school and become a Doctor, or Nurse or some lame job like that," Goumanya replied, dismissively.
"Are you?" Twice asked carefully.
She gulped again and nodded, still looking at the ground.
"So when you get asked where you got the quirk from, what are you going to tell people?" Izuku asked.
"I'm at a temple," Goumanya replied before any of them could. He spread his hands as he looked up at the temple roof. "It's a fucking miracle," he added.
Himiko laughed at that and Izuku smiled. "I like that," he told the red-head. "The rest of you?"
The older man, Unten groaned in a way that told Izuku he hadn't thought of how to answer that question. Rakura shook her head and again Shibou reached out to comfort her.
"How about I tell you what you are going to say?" Izuku took pity on them.
"What should we tell them?" Rakura asked, though her voice was barely above a whisper and Izuku could tell she was thinking that he was going to back out again.
"The truth," he replied.
That actually surprised her enough that she raised her head to look at him. Her eyes were a deep brown and Rakura quickly looked down again. Shibou and Unten were still staring at him though, as if they couldn't believe their ears.
Goumanya laughed. "I like that!" He repeated Izuku's words from earlier.
"Tell them the truth," Izuku instructed. "You arranged to meet me here, and I gave you the quirks," he elaborated.
"But they are going to want to know who made the arrangements. They are going to want to know everything," Rakura objected. It was a sensible consideration.
"They are," Izuku agreed. "And on those particulars you would have to remain quiet. Can you do that?" he asked. He wasn't too concerned, though this would lead to Yakuni being linked with him and the 'I'm quirkless' defense would no longer be enough to get him out of sticky situations with the law.
"All I know is that Kachi told me to be here," Goumanya growled.
Izuku looked at the other three, who had thoughtful expressions. "Can you do that?" he repeated his question.
Unten nodded slowly. "It's not much of a price, is it?" he chuckled. "We tell them the truth and accidentally forget how we knew to be here," he said.
"Not much at all," Izuku agreed before he looked at Shibou and Rakura.
The two of them nodded. "We'll do it," Rakura said for them both.
"Good," Izuku accepted their words. "Now, to business. I have four quirks and based on what I've seen, I think one would definitely suit you, Goumanya. It's not a subtle quirk," he explained.
"With quirks, subtle's just the same as quirkless," the guy snapped back.
"Then you'll take that one?" Izuku asked.
"Gimme," he demanded.
Izuku held out his hand as he pulled Katsuki's quirk to him. Goumanya knew what the gesture meant and took his hand and Izuku gripped it. The red-head was arrogant but knew better than to engage in a test of strength. He'd lose and probably have a broken hand for his efforts. For a moment Izuku waited, and then he pushed Katsuki's quirk into the formerly quirkless young man. He pulled his hand back and took a deep breath. "There you go."
Goumanya didn't reply immediately. Instead he pulled back his hand and brought the palm up to his face. He examined it closely, flexing his fingers, as if he couldn't quite believe they belonged to him.
"Did it-?" Rakura asked tentatively. "Did it work?"
"It might take a little while to settle," Izuku said, "but it's there."
"Yeah," Goumanya confirmed, in a shocked voice. "Yeah. There's something there," he explained and the group watched as he took several measured breaths. "There's definitely something there," he repeated.
"Well, I'm sure you will be able to work out what it does," Izuku said with a grin. "It's not subtle, so it will be easy to work out," he added. "Now, Shibou, I think I have one that will suit you too," he said, moving on to the overweight guy.
"These are the quirks from UA, aren't they?" he asked, and then gasped when he realised what he'd said.
Izuku smiled but didn't deny it. He'd just given away Bakugou's quirk and while Goumanya didn't know what it was yet, that was only a matter of time. "Do you want the quirk?" he asked instead.
Now that it was real, he could see that Shibou was having second thoughts but at length he nodded. "I do," he said and almost sounded ashamed.
Again, Izuku held out his hand as he drew Momo's quirk to him. It was a useful quirk and he could see how he could use it, but he didn't have time to practice with it. And the heroes would be distracted by the presence of Momo's and Katsuki's quirks back in the world. Even if Shibou wasn't as obvious as Goumanya he would be found, and they'd work out who's quirk he had. Shibou took his hand.
"You don't have to be afraid," Izuku comforted him. "And you don't have to apologise for wanting a quirk. I'm not quirkless, I never really have been but I could never tell anyone what my quirk was so-" he shrugged slightly. He couldn't say he knew what they'd been through, not without a lot more explanation and even then, what had happened to him was nothing compared to what happened to those who were really quirkless. He'd had to put up with it for a bit of a year. They'd had to deal with it for their entire lives. He knew, sort of, what it was like but not the full reality. Izuku slipped the quirk to Shibou and pulled back slightly.
The overweight man gasped. "There's something-" he said.
"You have a quirk now," Izuku told him.
The man's eyes widened and he, like Goumanya, took several deep breaths. "I have a quirk," he whispered the words and actually stumbled a bit.
Rakura was quick to steady him and guided Shibou to the temple wall. There was probably a rule against leaning on it, but Shibou needed the support.
"Do you two want to pick the last two quirks, or just let me do it?" Izuku asked Rakura and Unten. The older man looked over at the young woman, but she didn't give much reply.
"You pick," Unten said.
Izuku nodded. "What work will you be trying to get?" he asked, as an idea formed.
"Anything," Unten replied, shaking his head.
"Can you drive?"
The question surprised him. "Yeah, of course I can drive."
Izuku smirked, and then held out his hand. Unten took it but obviously had a bit of trepidation about it. Izuku gave him the Yakuza's quirk, Confession. Yakuni was making a copy, so he'd be able to use it if he needed but Izuku also knew he had to assign jobs to people. He couldn't be everywhere and do everything himself. "Do you want to work for me?" he asked as Unten drew back his hand.
"What?"
"Do you want to work for me?" Izuku repeated his question.
"Doing what?" Unten was a bit suspicious.
"Driving," Izuku laughed.
"A chauffeur?"
"Yep," he confirmed.
Unten looked to the sky. "Oh man… why not!" he agreed. "It will save me from having to find a job," he added.
"Excellent," Izuku said before he turned to Rakura. "Are you ready?" he asked her, once more holding out his hand.
She looked at it for a moment before she nodded and reached out. Her hand was sweaty but Izuku grasped it gently as he pushed the last quirk to her. Kaminari's quirk. Again, it was a quirk she could use and while he didn't think Rakura would be anywhere near as in the public eye as Goumanya, the Heroes would know who's quirk she had.
"There you go," he said as he drew his hand back. "I'd suggest you wait a day or so, before you begin trying to find out what they do," Izuku advised before he fixed Goumanya with a stare. "You, be careful. You could hurt yourself, but I think the rest of you should be fine," he said. "And Unten, I'll have someone contact you about hours and stuff," Izuku added.
He was kind of pleased with that idea. If Unten could be a driver for him, then he wouldn't need to rely on Kurogiri all the time. He could rely on Kurogiri but the warper was recognisable and sometimes it would suit to do things the old fashioned way. Plus with Unten as a driver, he would have someone with a truth quirk on hand. It was a good way of killing two birds with one stone.
"You are really just going to let us walk away with them?" Shibou asked.
"Just the fact that you have them is going to be enough," Izuku replied. "You thought I'd ask for loyalty or something?"
The question hung in the air but it was obvious what the answer was.
"The fact that we have them is going to be enough," Unten repeated the answer. "That seems cheap."
"Honestly, with what I think the heroes will ask, it's a fair exchange," Izuku replied. "What you do with them now, is up to you, but I'm not taking them back," he added as he gestured to Yakuni, Twice and Himiko. It was time for them to leave.
"You don't want to pray at the temple?" Himiko asked as they walked back down the temple approach on one side. The flow of people was two way and they were being courteous.
"Nah, we have to get to work," Izuku replied, looking back. The temple was large, and red and there was a pagoda next to it. It was kind of pretty but…
He didn't need the luck of the gods.
-ted-
Just as a reminder to how quirks are copied. The Doctor does have a method to extract a quirk from the mix of quirks AFO has but it is REALLY painful to AFO. Yakuni's method relies on getting a genetic sample. Izuku did not get a genetic sample from Bakugou, Shouto, Momo, Kaminari, etc so there are no copies of those quirks. Yakuni however did get a genetic sample from all of the Shie Hassaikai so while there may not be copies of those quirks yet, there definitely can be in future.
Now though, Izuku is keeping control of Confession by giving the guy a job and the other three get to go into the world and see what they can do now that they have social acceptance.
Discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all! Not just about MHA.
-ted-
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