The Price of Pain
Chapter 3: Only the Job
Being a criminal as a child was much harder than she had imagined. The first week she found herself escaping the questioning of many concerned adults as she walked the streets. She wondered how the children here didn't find it patronising to be told even walking alone was something they were incapable of. Being coddled in such a way must be exhausting.
Her first few jobs were drug running. Not the hard kind. She didn't want to have actual heroes on her tail for selling things like meth or LSD. It was small recreational drugs, which brought in enough revenue for her to buy basic necessities. Transporting large amounts across town was difficult, so they often hid some in some poor child's backpacks, making it look like they were walking to school in the mornings. Aki wore a second-hand uniform they gifted her and began running the drugs across town. It wasn't a glamorous job but reminded her of her time as an infiltration specialist. She put on a pleasant expression, a practiced one, and continued her job for a few weeks, waiting on Giran to give her a breakthrough gig.
She suspected he thought she would eventually join a gang in some form whether they be traditional Yakuza or a Villain group. Aki had no intentions of either. She knew enough about private mercenaries to know that was her niche. Maybe not at this very moment considering few employers would hire a singular child they considered green. She couldn't fault them for that. She needed to build a reputation. That was the hard part. It took some time, but he called her with a job opportunity she couldn't refuse. So that's how she found herself in an underground bar famous among some of the darker vigilante and lighter criminal sides.
"You old enough to even enter kid?" the bartender asked.
Aki gave him a passive glance. "No, but I'm not here for pleasure. I'm here for business. I was told your establishment was known for its discretion."
"It is... I'm not serving you alcohol though. Still have a licence to keep," he grunted.
"That's alright. Give me some orange juice," she said.
The bartender actually chuckled at that but did as he was told. She supposed money was money. She couldn't believe she was using what little she had on overpriced juice, but she knew he would probably kick her out for loitering without buying anything. She sat down with her juice at a corner table, getting a few looks of confusion and irritation from her mere presence.
A few men were making their way to her when her new employer decided to step in. One look at him and they backed off. Aki eyed the man down and knew he was dangerous and well beyond her current capability to defeat. Maybe once when she had chakra and a body she had trained from childhood in, she could have easily taken him. She had fallen quite low since then.
His distinctly bandaged face, lack of nose and beady black eyes were unnerving in a way most Shinobis were. It was oddly... comforting in a way. She had missed this familiar aura, this dangerous animal in human form. He sat down in front of her and scowled.
"What's a little girl like you doing playing with fire?" he asked. Was that concern? Somehow that would have been more insulting than if he wished to kill or humiliate her.
"I'm not here to give you my backstory hero killer. I was told you were looking for some information. Files on Starcry's agency. A way in," she said, getting straight to business as she sipped her juice.
Stain hummed in thought for a moment, no doubt taken aback by her impassive reaction to his presence. She supposed most kids would be shitting their pants about now. She had unfortunately faced far worse than him. One convicted killer was not enough to phase her.
"An informant told me you're good at getting into places. You think you can walk into a false hero's den and come out unscathed little cub?" he challenged.
"I have no reputation outside of what information I have stolen for Giran," she admitted.
"So why should I hire a greenhorn like you?" Stain asked.
"I don't take payment upfront," she said.
"What an unusual answer..." Stain chortled.
How was that an unusual answer? Had he expected her to boast about her skills to him? She had very little field experience in this world to list of as proof of her abilities.
"I have faith in my own abilities," she clarified. "However I am aware that I am new to the scene. I won't expect you to pay me until after I get you what you want. What do you have to lose?"
Stain considered it for a moment. "Very well brat. I'll agree to this deal, but not everyone is like me. They may promise you payment and never deliver."
Aki nodded in agreement. Giran had said if nothing, Stain was a man of his word and well known enough to make doing a job for him be noteworthy in her future resume. "That's why I chose you. Wednesday night, meet me here at 11:30pm. I'll have your information for you."
Stain nodded, and Aki was surprised when he got up and paid her bill for her. She sat at her table and flipped her phone in her hands. Who would have thought the Hero Killer would be such a gentleman.
She had work to do.
Infiltrating a Hero Agency was a tough debut. Aki had taken the risk knowing that if it paid off, she would be well set in the underworld for more jobs. If it failed, they wouldn't kill her. As far as stakes went this wasn't so bad. She was used to fearing death. There was still a chance of it here, but prison was not such a bad alternative. It gave her the chance to escape and try again. But her reputation would take a blow, which was what really mattered here.
She had very little money, resources, allies, or supporters. Getting evidence and destroying it from the local police precinct for Giran had been a hard enough job. This would be much, much more difficult. She missed chakra. She missed henge jutsu and her doton abilities. She had primarily been a mid-range fighter, but her infiltration skills were well in the making before she died. She had spent a year or two on the borders of Ame and the land of Fire, intercepting Konoha missives. In which time she'd built a civilian persona and spent years alone in a hostile environment.
And then they sent her out to the front lines to die. Aki bristled at the memory. She was probably better off alone. A lone criminal couldn't be sent to their death without their knowledge, couldn't have their life gambled from someone sitting safely at home. Any mistake she made now was solely on her, and that was incredibly gratifying. She would never let go of that control ever again.
So as she approached the hero agency, she did so dressed as a weak looking girl, putting her dyed pink hair up in pig tails and wearing baggier clothes than usual. She wore contacts and makeup to change as much of her face as she could. She needed to look unassuming and weak, and the clothes helped hide the gun she was carrying. It wasn't as good as a standard henge but alas she had no chakra.
"Hello, I need your help please," she said, making her voice sound uncertain and weak.
"What happened?" The receptionist at the front desk asked.
"I um... my mom and dad are hurt. They said their car toppled and they're stuck underneath!"
"Oh my. Do you know where? I'll get a hero for you right away," the woman said.
Aki faked tears, enough so that it prompted the Starcry's sidekick Drummer to come down to comfort her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and knelt down in front of her.
"Hey kid, it's going to be okay. Do you know where this happened?"
"Y-yeah. Down at Shikoku Street," she said.
"You wait here okay," he said before Starcry came out.
The woman was dressed in the gaudiest outfit Aki had ever seen. Her bright blonde hair was quaffed up in an elaborate bun, and her outfit was scandalous to say the least. It was a tight leotard that barely left much for the imagination, with a huge star cut out in the middle of her breasts, showing a lot of skin. It just went to cement to Aki that a lot of this was show business and not really heroic in any way.
She briefly wondered if Stain wanted her dead because he didn't like woman showing a lot of skin as a hero...
Killers have killed for less. Still it felt like a petty reason to want someone dead. Not that she wanted to understand Stain. This whole hero villain business was none of hers. She was looking to make a career as a merc.
"Don't worry about your parents honey bun. Starcry will save them," the woman announced before rushing out.
Just as Drummer left, Aki swiped his key card. It probably wouldn't give her much more access than to his locker. Heroes used technology like facial recognition and things beyond her skill set. The elemental nations had never been so technologically advanced as Japan. She supposed her skill set was a little outdated, but she couldn't exactly invest in studying modern techniques when she barely had a roof over her head.
So she would have to do with what she had. As the two heroes left their building Aki caught the eye of the receptionist and tweaked her hormones enough, dropping them to a rate where she would feel too weak to walk. She let out a confused groan as she held her head and slumped into her chair. Aki innocently walked up to her and whispered so the cameras wouldn't catch her face.
"You're going to give me access to your security system now," Aki said.
"W-what?" the lady asked, eyes going wide in confusion.
"My quirk. It can stop your heart at any stage once I've looked at you," she lied.
She needed to maintain eye contact to do anything, but her victim didn't need to know that. She had sufficiently spooked the woman whose hands twitched under the table.
"If you try to press that button, you're dead," Aki warned.
She froze.
"Good girl. Stay very still and act normal. I won't hurt you and you can go back to your family safe and sound if you do what I say. In fact no one has to know. If I hear you've talked, your heart stops," she said smiling pleasantly.
"W-what do you want?" she asked.
"I know you're a simple receptionist. I don't expect you to have access to anything major. But I would love for you to try this access card," Aki said.
She handed the scared woman Drummer's card. She took it with a grimace.
"This only gives me access to his case files. It w-won't give you anything on the security here," she replied shakily.
"Just get me in and I'll do the rest," Aki said not unkindly.
The woman did her best to keep a straight face as she got to typing. Aki walked to the table and sat down next to the woman, looking at the computer. It was a fascinating device, one she had poured hours into at school to learn. So many students didn't care what they could really do with such power at their fingertips. They'd rather watch cat videos, and post selfies of them with their favourite heroes or food. Aki at least understood the food. But having such connected technology was fascinating to her. She had learnt some basic coding and hacking but nothing enough to hack into a hero agency in under 30 minutes. She was barely adept in her skills. But she didn't need to hack when she could steal the files.
"Oh lookie here, Drummer boy saves his passwords on his computer. Not exactly very safe of him," she said.
Aki spent only about 10 minutes on Drummer's server. She decided to steal his case files as a bonus. Who knew what useful information she could gleam from it. Once she'd gone through their systems and downloaded everything she needed, she began her assent into their security camera system and noted down where everything was. That was all she needed.
"W-what are you going to do with this information?" the receptionist asked, hands shaking.
"Haruhi Yami. Age 27. You have two children Haruhi Fumiko and Haruhi Tomya. They're 4 and 6 years old and go to Suhei Elementary. You live in a duplex at 2-53-47 in the Chou Ku ward."
"H-how," she said, paling.
"Now do the smart thing Yami-san, for you and your children. Keep what you've seen here a secret. I'm just a sad little girl whose parents were in an accident, and to cheer me up you let me play some games on your computer."
"They'll know. When they find out there was no accident," she said frowning.
Aki chuckled. "Who says there wasn't an accident?"
"Y-you..."
Aki just nodded and smiled. "Now if you excuse me, I really should check up on my parents. Who knows if Starcry and Drummer were able to save them."
She pat the receptionist on her lap, taking her eye and reducing her adrenaline. She didn't need the woman panicking on her and doing something stupid in her fear. Then she left, holding the information she needed.
Aki took off her baggy clothes, makeup, and contact lens. Throwing them away and letting down her hair. Then she made her way through the crowd becoming one among many.
To think her payment would mean having Stain slam her into a wall. He bared his teeth at her as he held her throat tight. She could have easily gotten him to let go at any time, but she didn't, out of pure confusion and shock.
"You killed an innocent man," he growled.
"Ah," Aki said.
She grabbed his wrist, digging into a pressure point and forcing him to retract his hand with a hiss. She patted her knees and straightened her collar before standing back up and giving him an unimpressed look.
"Is that all you have to say? I asked you to get me information, not murder civilians in my name."
"It wasn't in your name. I needed a distraction and if Strycry and Drummer weren't so incompetent the accident wouldn't have ended in death," Aki said.
"But it did. So give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you myself," he said.
Aki squared her shoulders, ready for a fight. She wanted to know who would win. A swordsman or an unskilled marksman. Her hands twitched at the gun, wishing it was a katana instead.
"You didn't give me a written contract barring me from killing anyone on my mission. Your morale line is not any of my concern. My mission is," she said, feeling the anger make its way to her voice.
She could see he was ready to kill her, and he would have if the bar owner didn't extend his hands like thick bars of steel and hold them in their place. She turned to him feeling her cheeks heat up in humiliation. This was a no fight zone and she had nearly broken the rule on her first mission. She holstered her gun and sighed.
"I'm sorry. We will take this outside, won't we Stain? " she asked.
He simply grunted. The entire bar gave them looks ranging from irritation to mirth as they were all but kicked out. It wasn't until they were in the back alley that Aki drew her gun and hit away a knife with it. She bared her teeth at Stain, jumping back to give herself a wide berth from him.
"If this is how you handle business, you won't be finding many people willing to work with you," Aki hissed.
"I don't have many now and I don't care. Anyone who compromises on their code is worthless trash," he said, licking his sword.
"I'll leave a bullet in your head, and it'll still get me what I want," Aki said coldly.
"Cocky brats like you die young," Stain retorted.
Aki didn't waste time letting him attack. Instead she shot at him. He dodged with incredible reflexes, closing the distance between them quickly. Aki cursed her current useless body, but she'd been in enough fights to keep her cool. She'd read up on Stain, so she knew not to get cut, but she needed to take the risk anyway.
Just before his blade hit her, she paused, looking him deep in the eyes and overloading his brain with stress hormones. His eyes rolled back into his head but his teeth grit together as he continued forward. The result was a sword through her arm that dropped her to her knees, as she knocked Stain out. She cursed silently as her limbs locked in place but as she saw Stain also fall unconscious in front of her, she couldn't help but feel satisfaction.
Now it was up to who shook themselves out of their states first. Aki hated the silent uncertainty she faced as she considered he might wake up first and kill her. She hadn't had enough time to really kill him. It took more than a glance.
"You're a handful of a contractor you know?" a familiar voice said, jovial and grating.
She couldn't even respond considering she was paralysed. She knew who it was though. Giran. She cursed that the man had to see her like this. It would have been better if he had come to witness the aftermath, when one of them had died. This was just plain embarrassing, especially when he pulled her arm out of the katana and carried her away like a child. She could manage a glare at least.
"What? You wanted me to leave you there to see how it plays out? He may kill you, you know."
Aki just stared at him with irritation. Giran sighed.
"You're one ballsy kid, I'll give you that. Not many people have come this close to killing Stain. For a greenhorn that's impressive. You should cut your losses and leave while you can."
Aki was so pissed she willed her mouth to move. "No. I get paid for my mission. I close the mission. If I can't, his head is mine."
Giran whistled. "Damn you are one intense little girl. Okay. I'll prop you here and watch who kills who first."
Giran putting her down was the first honourable thing the man had done since they'd met. Outside of honouring a job, which was the barest of the bare minimum courtesy. Aki couldn't believe she had trusted this bandaged freak to keep his end of the bargain. She hated no one more than people who reneged on their contracts. She had killed a man once who admitted he had no money to pay her after she'd finished the job. She had been blinded with rage.
Her sensei hadn't approved of her anger, but she still thought her actions were justifiable.
It was a stretched out 5 or so minutes before she felt her limbs start to move, and saw Stain arouse from her assault on his mind. Blood poured out of his eyes and ears, but he looked livid and ready to fight. Aki picked up the knife he had thrown at her before, shakily standing to her feet, just as he did.
"You have enough dignity to face your death. Good," Stain hissed.
Aki clenched her jaw. "Underestimating me will be the last thing you do Stain."
They rushed each other this time. Aki hated how unbalanced the shitty knife she was using was, but it was infinitely better than a gun. She blocked his attacks with great effort. His blows were harder than hers, his limbs longer, his body more used to swinging weapons designed for him. But he couldn't look her in the eye. He had figured that out at least. But eyes gave away more than the body did sometimes. It gave away where the opponents were looking, what they anticipated on doing, what their target was.
Aki managed to dodge his attacks and Stain managed to push her back. She flipped the knife in her hand and cut his throat, but he moved back just enough so that it wasn't deep enough to do any damage. They pulled away from each other to catch their breath. The assault had been long for a battle, but brief nonetheless.
"You move with skill," he noted, wiping the blood on his neck.
"So do you," Aki acknowledged.
Giran clapped bringing their attention to him for a moment. "And both of you are amazing fighters. How about we call it a draw and end it here?"
"Not until he honours the deal," Aki hissed.
"You hear that Stain? You really want to kill a little girl after you don't pay her for her work? That's some shitty manners," Giran said lightly.
"Not after she killed a civilian to get that information," he said.
"Oh you mean the man who's recovering in the hospital right now. He had a bit of a heart attack scare but he's been brought back," Giran said.
Stain finally turned to Giran, regarding him. He slowly put away his swords, giving Aki a look. The girl dropped his knife to her side but didn't move to attack. So Stain moved to grab the folder out of Giran's hands. He read through it and grunted.
"You're lucky kid. You didn't kill anyone today," Stain said.
Aki scoffed, not fazed by the man's threat. "My payment."
Stain pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. Aki snatched it, glowering at him all the while.
"Just for your information, regardless of what happened, if the fight had continued, I'd have beheaded you and taken my payment anyway," she growled.
"You would die before you could try," Stain replied equally irritated.
"What a wonderful, bludgeoning friendship," Giran said dryly, earning him glares from both Stain and Aki.
"Don't ever give me a job from this man again," Aki snarled at Giran, before she turned to Stain, holding his knife. "And I'm keeping this knife for the bullshit you put me through."
"I look forward to testing your skills next time," he said coldly, before he jumped onto a nearby bin and ran away.
Aki grabbed her wounded arm and grimaced in pain. She'd need stitches and some medical attention. She usually had a medic nin around to help but she had no one here.
"What are you going to do about that?" Giran asked, gesturing to her wound.
"Stitch it up," she grunted.
"Well good luck while you bleed out and die from an infection. That is unless you're willing to take a job on for me later pro bono. I'll have a night doctor stitch you up."
Aki sighed. She hated taking contracts she didn't know about. It could mean anything. She didn't trust Giran wouldn't send her to her death. She had become a merc for the very reason of being able to choose her jobs. But dying before she barely debut was idiotic.
"Fine, but nothing that involves heroes directly and nothing long-term. I don't need to be in even more of their shit," she said.
"Can't promise one won't find you, but I'll make sure it's purely villain," he said, grinning at her.
"I can't wait. Lead the way," she said sarcastically.
Whatever Giran's intentions were with her, it wasn't altruistic. Aki knew what she looked like. A homeless girl with a lot of potential to be moulded into whatever Giran wanted. A little bit of directed kindness and assistance to get her started and she would begin feeling indebted to him. Aki saw through it almost immediately when he offered to rent her an apartment. No criminal did that without an ulterior motive. Aki could accept it and kill him later anyway, but she wasn't that kind of person. She paid her debts.
"You're taking this well," her doctor said, stitching up her arm.
"It's just a stab wound," she replied.
The man regarded her for a moment and laughed. He looked remarkably unremarkable. A dark-haired Japanese man with glasses. Aki figured his quirk was something to do with his vision considering the only abnormal thing about him was his vibrantly white eyes. Almost looked like a Hyuuga if she couldn't see little wires behind it. He probably had X-ray vision.
"Most grown men would be crying in pain," he said.
"I'm not a grown man," she retorted in annoyance.
Why did men think they were the epitome of perseverance and pain tolerance? If she recalled correctly, it was women who suffered period pains once a month and delivered children through a coin sized hole. Still, she had seen many men and women and children in much worse conditions holding it together in the Shinobi world. The people here were incredibly soft in comparison.
Giran walked into the room when the doctor began explaining to her how to care for her wounds. Without medical chakra it was a whole other process. So she listened carefully and made sure to note down all the chemicals and drugs she'd have to buy going forward.
"Looks like you're all stitched up. Shall I walk you to your new home?" he asked.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Aki said putting on her jacket.
"Oh?" Giran asked, genuinely surprised by her dismissal.
She eyed him. "I'm already in your debt for this service. You never asked for a payment for the apartment. I don't take things for free, not when I know there's a hidden price to pay," she said bluntly.
Giran chuckled. "You're a sharp kid. Maybe you can make it out there as a lone wolf. But it doesn't hurt to have allies," he said.
Aki buttoned up her beige coat and pulled the hood over her head. She took a moment to look at Giran.
"I will take a working partnership. I get jobs, you get part of the payment. If you fuck me over, I'll do you worse. That's the extent of our relationship," Aki said.
"Cold," Giran said, but there was no bite in his words, just acceptance. "You know where to find me if you need any work," he called out.
Aki didn't turn around, but she held her hands up in a wave as she exited into the cold winter streets.
A/N
Omg Aki needs to learn the meaning of chill. But it'll take some time. Thanks to everyone who followed and commented. Love you guys.