Atsuhiro sighed swinging one of his legs that were dangling off the edge of the roof he was sitting upon.
Night watches were a very boring affair, but he could hardly argue the necessity of them either.
Especially not after such a brilliant showing at the festival earlier.
Atsuhiro grinned at the thought twirling the marbles in his hand.
His sweet little charge had certainly gotten the eyes of so many people, oh and that lovely leading lady of the event Miss Haku was such a lovely co-host for him, the boy needed more people in his corner.
Especially those that could publicly stand up for him.
Alas, he and a great many of Deku's most devoted followers would, sadly, never be able to tell others of Deku's greatest feats.
Such a shame, a pity really.
But on the other hand he couldn't say he was truly upset with Deku's name not being that wide spread just yet.
Let him continue on as he was, helping those that truly needed just a hand, helping those that fell through the cracks.
Greed had a way of ruining people, whether by corrupting someone directly or poisoning those around them.
He'd seen his fair share of greed over the years, having stolen from all kinds of people, mainly heroes of course, some his family had been tainted by it as well, but Atsuhiro's point still stood.
Deku seemed to be immune to the temptations of the sin of indulgence, he had more money than he, or his family, had ever stolen collectively and never touched more than a fraction of a fraction of that money for himself.
Others though...
Atsuhiro glanced at the three marbles he was twirling in his hand with narrowed eyes.
For in these marbles weren't the supplies that he'd recently been moving for Deku, nor the weapons he constantly carried on his person since he was hired.
No, each marble held a rotten person.
It wasn't the first time that he's caught someone trying to sneak up on his charge, it happened once in a blue moon what with his numerous connections keeping a large chunk of the nefarious types away.
However, there was always that one poor fool that tried their luck.
They used to be dealt with by the Vespas but he'd taken over that job after he was hired.
Tonight, though Miss Haku had unintentionally kicked the hornets nest with her speech, leading there to be more foolishly brave idiots to try their luck and attempt to attack Deku.
Not that they got close enough to try.
Speaking of which...
Atsuhiro leapt off the building and with the practiced ease hopped over to the neighboring apartment building roof, down the fire escape and slapped a hand on a man hiding in the shadows.
Imagining the man condensing, and then in a snap the man was gone and he grabbed the marble he was held inside of out of the air.
This marble would make four people he held captive, two more and he'd break his previous record of people caught in one night.
Atsuhiro slipped the marble in a hidden pocket and quickly made his way back to the rooftops, then headed back to where he originally was, sitting on the edge of the roof and twirling a couple of marbles in one hand.
Come the end of the night he would hand all of the people he caught over to the Vespas, they would deal with the people accordingly from there.
And if those people were never seen or heard from again?
Well, he understood it was best that a magician never reveals his tricks, and he never asked what happened to the people he made disappear.
Atsuhiro could only hope that the Vespas at least got some information out of the people he gave them.
For now though he'd focus on his current act and watch over his charge's home, and ensure that both he and the angel of a woman that was his mother were safe and sound as they slept.
The hours dragged on with only the occasional interruption in the form of a person sneaking around and trying to break into Deku's home.
A rather dull way to pass the time even with the increase in people showing up to harm the boy and his mother.
Until it was halfway through the night when a Vespa came to bring him some food, Esme he remembered, most of the Vespas tended to blur in his memory what with how many of them there were.
But Esme had stuck out.
Tall for a Vespa at four foot eight, and on the more rabbit than human side of the mutation scale, and the most adorable smile he's seen in years.
And she seemed to share his interest in magic too, truly a woman after his own heart if there ever was one.
"Esme dear, how lovely to see you again." he greeted, with a twist of his hand and a small bundle of flowers were in his hand, offered to the young lady.
"Robin." she said trying to be admonishing but failed, showing just how amused she was from her smile.
The young woman slipped into his side, easily handing off the bento box to him so she could play with one of the flowers he gave her.
Atsuhiro on the other hand moved his mask and began eating, finding the rice molded into little rabbits popping out of top hat-shaped wraps on the inside.
*How cute.* Atsuhiro couldn't help thinking before he took his first bite.
He enjoyed the brief moment of serenity, as it held it's own sort of magic.
Sitting on a roof in the middle of the night with a lovely woman beside him, surrounded by the glimmering lights of the city and the full moon shining brightly above them.
Yes, he'd be sure to treasure this calm in the years to come.
With the threat of All For One rising it was likely that such moments would soon be stolen from him, and everyone else for that matter.
"Hey Robin?" Esme called and he hummed back in acknowledgement.
"Does it ever scare you? Knowing that there's someone like He who takes out there, just... existing." she asked him.
Atsuhiro took a moment to consider the question.
"Very much, yes. Frankly it's terrifying." he replied honestly.
"It's kind of suffocating right? I don't know what will kill me first, one of his monsters or the anxiety of waiting for him to strike." she morosely told him, her head leaning on his chest.
"Worry not my dear, we are both in good hands." Atsuhiro assured bring one of his hands up to stroke her head.
"Between your family, Morozov and Deku I doubt there could be anything that could lay a finger on us." he mused, taking one of her hands and kissing it like a gentlemen, she snorted.
"Don't be so corny." she told him, putting one of her paw-like hands on his face to make him turn away from her.
"Oh, you wound my dear, don't you know that my corniness is my best asset?" Atsuhiro teased bring his hand up to his forehead dramatically.
Esme giggled, taking the empty bento box and stood up "I thought that brain of yours was your best asset?" she joked, and he hummed.
"I suppose you're right, but it is a close second, no?" Atsuhiro asked and that time she smacked him playfully on the shoulder.
Esme giggling the whole way as she leapt away, easily disappearing from sight with her jet black fur.
Atsuhiro watched her go for another second then turned back to the apartments, knowing that the Vespas that were temporarily watching for him wouldn't be sticking around for long.
The local branch of the family were probably aware of the two of them fancying each other by this point, not that they gave him leeway for it.
If anything, he was held to a higher quality of work since he was getting closer to being family.
Not that he could see a problem with that, becoming a Vespa would hardly be the worst thing in the world.
He had already strayed from the straight and narrow when he took to crime years and years ago so joining a criminal family wasn't something he was opposed to, and Esme certainly seemed like someone worth spending his life with.
He could picture it now even.
Years down the line they'd have a house or an apartment on the family compound, maybe a few dozen kids running around since the Vespa woman had litters, not that he'd mind that either since he'd like a big family and could pay to take care of that many children.
The only thing that stood in the way of that happy little life though was All For One, though hopefully he would become a non-issue soon with Deku's plans in mind.
Hearing a pair of boots moving in the background Atsuhiro leapt down and pressed against a wall, hiding in the shadows and looking up.
A hero, a younger one landed on the rooftop he was just on and scanned the area, he didn't recognize the person and figured it was a newbie added to the rotation, waiting for a moment then moved on with their patrol.
*How odd.* Atsuhiro thought.
Heroes patrolled nicer areas like this sure, but they typically skipped this part most days, not like crime happened here very often, hopefully the Vespas would get to the bottom of this.
As nice as it would be for people to be more concerned about people he understood that heroes weren't that nice.
A change in the rotation would have come from on high, most likely from the commission or someone equally powerful to get the underground to listen, they were creatures of habit and didn't like changes in their work schedule.
So as much as he'd like to believe Nezu pulled some strings because he was worried about Deku it wasn't likely he held enough sway to ask them of that and get them to react the same day.
Atsuhiro waited for another few minutes until he was sure they were gone then climbed back to his perch and watched over the apartment block once again, though he made sure not to let his mind wander.
If there was going to be more than one hero showing up that night, he couldn't let his mind wander.
He didn't like the idea of his new costume being assumed as a criminal's; Deku had put a lot of work into it and managed to keep some of the original elements of his former costume.
Deku could make him a better one, but he'd prefer keeping this one thank you very much.
Atsuhiro looked over the rooftop for any new bugs before he settled down, no point in getting caught by the HPSC and proving that Deku was involved in any illegal activity, and therefore leverage for them to manipulate Deku.
As the appointed bodyguard it wouldn't do him well to make trouble for his charge by being lazy.
Morozov would have his head for it if the other groups didn't get to him first.
Thankfully he'd never let that happen, he understood that his job was a very important one.
Deku needed to be protected and that currently fell to him to ensure the boy's physical safety.
His watch would be over soon though, only so much sleep he could cut out and still act like a functioning member of society.
He didn't remember the name of the Vespa that would relieve him, but he did know what they could do and that his quirk's effect on people seemed tame in comparsion.
And right on que two hours later the scrappy rabbit man came and grunted at him to leave, he didn't need to tell him twice, the drop off for the people he caught was a couple hours away and he'd like to eat something else before bed tonight.
Atsuhiro: I am not a furry
Esme *walks pass*
Atsuhiro:...
Atsuhiro: I am not a furry, but there are exceptions