The Price of Pain
Chapter 5: A Choice to be Cruel
The money from the first match was enough for downpayment on a cheap rental property, and so Aki for the first time in months wasn't actually homeless. She entered her cheap one-bedroom apartment gratefully. The landlord didn't ask for id and warned her if she got shot in here, she wouldn't be held responsible. Aki didn't exactly care as long as she had somewhere to go, and a shady run-down place full of villains and criminals wasn't exactly something she couldn't handle. She was no normal kid after all.
As she entered the damp mould smelling apartment, she breathed it in with a little too much satisfaction. It was mostly empty outside of a blow-up mattress and a microwave, but it was better than what she had before which was a crate, she didn't even own. Did she steal some of the furniture… yes. In her defence she was already a criminal, and despite that not being a proper job, and therefore making her feel guilty, it was now somewhat part of her job description. She wasn't a Shinobi anymore. She didn't actually hold to any honour code which stopped her from committing crime. It was both a freeing and scary thought simultaneously.
Her little apartment in the Shinozawa prefecture was more than enough for her now. She wouldn't end it here of course. She didn't know when she'd call it quits, maybe when she was a respectable and feared mercenary with an apartment in a skyline overviewing the city… or maybe when she was dead in a ditch somewhere. Those were the only two options in a job like this.
Aki put on her shoes, about ready to go outside to grab some groceries, when she opened the door at the same time as her neighbour. He crashed into her as he was walking right when she came out. Thankfully there was no embarrassing fall. Aki managed to step back and catch her footing, but she was met with a rather aggressive and… pained growl. She looked up to see one of the most scarred people she had ever met, and that was saying a lot considering she worked in many war zones. This man's face was almost entirely purple scar tissue and open tendons, held together by staples.
"Look where you're walking next time," he growled.
Aki rose a brow. "You walked into me," she pointed out.
"Whatever, stay out of everyone's way here if you want to live kid," he said unkindly as he pushed her away.
Aki wasn't exactly in the mood to fight after the three consecutive kills from the night before. So she continued walking, which happened to be right behind the guy who almost picked a fight with her. He glanced her way several times, and finally stopped when they were down the street.
"Okay that's it. Why are you following me like a creep?" he growled.
"I'm not following you. You're happening to go in the direction where I'm headed," she said, feeling her own irritation rise.
"And where's that huh?!"
"The local chemist," she deadpanned.
He smelt like smoke, almost like he was about to explode, and Aki didn't want to find out what did that to his skin, so she used her quirk to calm him down just enough that he wouldn't notice.
"Don't you fucking use your quirk on me you little shit," he hissed, jumping to grab her.
Aki jumped out of the way and several bystanders looked at them in alarm. Aki glared at her neighbour, grabbing the arm he tried to use on her and dragging him behind a tree to talk privately.
"Keep your voice down you idiot," she hissed.
"Or what?"
"Or we disturb the peace, a cop or a hero gets called, and then they profile us," she retorted angrily.
He looked like he wanted to incinerate her, but he just let out another hiss of pain as he pulled his arms away. She finally noticed the shake in his fingers. He was in pain. That explained his incredibly volatile mood swings. She decided to take the higher road here.
"Look, I apologise for getting up in your personal space okay. You can go ahead. I'll go to the chemist later," she said.
The man looked at her, blue eyes bright like a flame, but his harsh expression softened just enough for her to know he wasn't about to attack. Instead he took a step back and pocketed his shaking hands.
"No you look like you need to be there too. Geeze kid, did someone run you over with a truck?" he asked.
It wasn't that bad, but her last fight had been against some bug mutant with knives for hands, and it was a no weapon fight leaving her at a disadvantage. She was a little cut up, but it was all superficial.
"I'm fine," she said, moving past him to go to the chemist.
"Your parents do that to you?" he asked.
Aki scoffed. "As if I'd even let them. No this was from a fight I signed up for."
Unlike Alley Cat, this man knew when he was no longer wanted. They both walked in silence to the Chemist and bought what they needed. Aki had expected that to be the end of their conversation, but the burnt man dropped a bottle into her bag, and she looked at him in question.
"Much better quality for the money," he simply said before leaving.
Aki looked at the price and the contents and figured someone with that many injuries probably knew what he was talking about. It was in fact cheaper and had more quantity. She supposed as far as apologies went, that was the most Shinobi one she had ever experienced here.
She had to admit… she appreciated it.
Akahane Moriko had met an intriguing little money maker. The other's she'd propositioned had died a few weeks in. They had been profitable to some extent, but not as much as the little cub had. Moriko wondered how much longer she'd be able to milk out of this one before it expired and died a gruesome death. Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe she'd finally sponsor one who'd survive and make it out of the fights relatively unscathed.
She only felt a little bad for using Kuroishi Akiho the way she was. She was 100% sure the girl was aware she was being used, but it was a mutually beneficial enough relationship from her perspective to pursue. Moriko did not care to correct the folly of youth that believed they were too immortal to die. She liked to use it to recruit fresh new meat into the ring and take a percentage of their winnings as their manager and sponsor. It was a lucrative and deadly business which she didn't enjoy but paid more than burglary did these days.
Plus the girl was a little psychopath already. Moriko had done a background search on the child. Average grades, average physical scores, passive in all of her compulsory quirk counselling sessions. Her quirk was registered as black out, look long enough into those beady black eyes and it could mean heart failure. Moriko knew there was more to it, which meant Akiho had been a smart enough 5-year-old to have hidden her abilities from the counsellors. The very idea of a girl that calculative and heartless made Moriko shiver excitedly. Very rarely did she meet such a terrifying specimen.
Akiho had barely flinched or shown any remorse when she killed Hoofer or the other two unfortunate souls after him. The girl didn't look particularly excited about it either. She landed the killing blows with the same expression someone had when they were buttering bread. It was almost mundane to her.
And now she'd agreed to teach the brat.
"Centre yourself. Feel it in your core little cub!" she shouted.
Akiho scrunched her face rather cutely as she struggled to balance on the tight rope. For a seasoned killer the girl was incredibly adorable. Outside of her black eyes that didn't seem to reflect any light, she had a delicate face, high cheekbones, and very fluffy dusty brown hair. If Moriko could get her to smile a bit more, people around her would be more willing to approach. For now she looked like the kid you didn't approach in a horror movie unless you wanted to be killed by a possessed child.
"This is harder than it looks," Akiho grunted, wobbling on the line.
"It wouldn't be fun without a challenge, would it? If you can run across the line without falling, I'll take you out for some field experience."
Somehow the idea of more gruelling tasks made this child more motivated. Moriko sipped her chardonnay and lounged on the chair. The other parents who had come to the acrobatics gym eyed her uncomfortably. To be fair she didn't exactly look like a typical mother, with her long snow-white hair, red tinted glasses, and fanged teeth. People had always compared her to a vampire, but Moriko liked to think she was more feline. After all vampires weren't known for their grace, or sharp claws, which was her real quirk. She had the proportional abilities of a cat, and with it came impeccable fluidity and grace.
Akiho fell down onto the mat underneath her for the 6th time that day. The girl didn't let out a grunt of frustration, but rather got up and climbed back onto the rope to try again. If nothing the little cub was tenacious. She let her get up and try again and again, wondering when she would give up. After a while Moriko went to buy herself some lunch, lounged at a nearby park and scared some kids, and when she came back Akiho was still going. In fact the girl continued until the gym was closed. Yet another reason why Moriko was convinced this child was a psychopath.
"Haven't you tired yourself out already?" Moriko asked.
Akiho was breathless but she shook her head. "This is mild training."
"Mild?" Moriko asked, genuinely surprised.
"We have only been here for 6 hours. Is that not standard training time?" she asked.
Moriko laughed. How could someone be so unintentionally hilarious and depressing every time they spoke? She wondered if the foster home the girl lived at had abused her in some way to make her think this was normal. Either way, their abuse had instilled insane work ethic into her. A blessing from a curse, one could call it.
"Well you can continue this training tomorrow. I won't be here, but the supervisor knows your face now. He's keeping it hush hush, so don't talk back to him. Once you can walk on that rope, come find me for our next step."
"Hai sen—"
"Not your sensei, little cub," she reminded.
Akiho didn't take offence, and just nodded. Something almost remorseful crossed her face, but it was blank almost as quickly. She had a good poker face, Moriko mused.
"Akahane-san," she amended. "I have a question."
"Shoot."
"How long are you willing for this arrangement to last?" she asked.
Always to the point. Moriko hummed in thought. As far as students went, Akiho was her first. It was in fact the first time she'd ever met anyone who wanted her help that she could actually teach. The girl was already graceful, moving silently like a killer. But something seemed off about her. She had moments when she expected herself to be able to do more, but she fell short and seemed caught off guard by it. She reminded her of a veteran who had come back from a coma to find themselves in a weaker body than they were used to. Akiho more than anything needed to find that core, learn her body in and out and become aware of her limitations and capabilities.
That was honestly a long-term training regime. Moriko had never intended to take a proper student, the kind you imparted your legacy too. Akiho didn't look like she wanted that anyway. They were two independent souls, but independence only got you so far in a world where collaboration was necessary. Even Moriko had allies. Still… this girl had potential, and maybe if Moriko hadn't been so sure she would die as brightly as she lived, then maybe she would have taken her in full time.
"For as long as you pay, little cub," she said.
Or until I watch you die.
It was a cold night in Naruhata. He woke up to nothing but the coldness. Not a glimmer of light or a scent of the streets greeted him. He knew emptiness. Vaguely he remembered music, the kind that would have made him cry from actual emotions, but he didn't have tears to express it. All he could do was feel the cold, the gravel underneath him, as he crawled and crawled.
Time didn't make sense in this form. It seemed to stretch for an eternity and not a single minute. And somehow slowly it didn't. He could smell again, smell the filth and dirt around him, and then the warmth of the light hit his flesh, and he remembered what it was like to have eyes.
Who am I?
He wondered for a moment where he had come from, and why he felt so achingly empty. It was a while longer before he could properly move, and before sound became a thing. All he could do was lay in whatever filth he had found himself in and strive hard to do anything. He was incapable. It was frustrating. Was this what frustration felt like?
"What are you?" a voice asked him.
He had the same question. How could he not know what he was? He tried to see, and he managed to make out a figure, blurry as they were. They picked him up with a cloth and he lost motor control again, turning back into sludge.
"I can't believe I'm taking back home a pile of moving flesh. This better not turn into a horror movie," the voice whispered.
His life was indeed a horror movie… whatever that meant.
But as the time passed, he didn't smell filth and decaying food, instead he was somewhere clean, wrapped in blankets. Whoever had taken him was treating him with care. Why? Did they create him?
Who am I?
This time the frustration bought back a flash of memories, of a man with a scarred face, of speed, of envy and admiration.
"You're growing. Are you alive? Move if you are," the voice commanded.
He moved, if not to make a point that he understood at least that in the chaotic confusing mess that was his life.
"You're alive huh. Move again, just so I can make sure that wasn't a fluke," she said.
So demanding… he still did as he was told, unwilling to be thrown back into the filth. There was a contemplative silence for a minute, as the blob of a person who was taking care of him kneeled in front of him. She stayed very still, as still as he was sometimes, which he figured was impressive. He had no context as to why considering she was the first person he had met, let alone the first anyone he had met. Yet he knew things like she was a human, and that her gender was most likely female, and so many other assumptions like he was in a garbage bin when she found him. Or even that he was a he. So he must have been something before all this he decided.
WHO AM I?!
"I'm assuming this is some kind of regenerative quirk and you're recovering. I'll keep you around flesh-sack, but the moment you try to hurt me, I'm throwing you in an incinerator," they said coldly.
He shook his limbs enough to show he understood. The girl got up and left. Not one for many words he figured. Odd enough to take a random flesh blob and keep it in her room though.
It was better than the filth, he decided.
Tsukauchi Naomasa was on a lot of cases, one of which he was on for a lot longer than others. The Hero Killer case to be precise. The man was frustratingly divisive in his narrative, and elusive in his movement. He struck without any pattern, and for the most benign of reasons. It seemed he had it out for most heroes. So far, the only handful of heroes who hadn't been killed by him after an altercation were young up and coming hopefuls. They all quit promptly.
The Starcry case however was the worst of it. The idea that a villain could enter a hero's agency, a place that was made for the sole purpose of being safe and kill them in their own turf was almost unheard of. When it happened it became big news.
And when there was big news there was controversy. People debated frequently if Stain was a vigilante or a villain. Tsukauchi didn't think there was any debate that Stain was a villain. He murdered in cold blood and broke the law. Apparently that wasn't enough for most people these days to see a villain. He had delt with Vigilantes before, people like Knuckleduster and the Crawler, good people, but ultimately misguided. Justice had to be served within the confines of the law. At least Koichi had eventually come to the conclusion, even if he had unfortunately had to move to America to keep being a hero.
Tsukauchi took a look at Starcry's security systems though and was less than impressed. Sure she wasn't a very popular hero, but her security was abysmal. Not enough to be hacked into without direct interference with the network at least. She had a solid firewall. However beyond that her security systems had been outdated. And Tsukauchi didn't think Stain was capable of cybercrime. He had shown no proclivity to it before and he was certain whoever had aided him had come in-person or hired someone to at least.
So he did a bit more investigating, and it didn't take too long to find out who it was. There was a case not too long before the killings where Starcry had been notified by a civilian child about a car crash. It did in fact happen, but the case caught Tsukauchi's eye solely because the child had been marked as missing, and with a little bit of digging it was obvious this was not their child. The information had been enough to make Starcry put an alert out for the kid, but not enough for the receptionist who had been seen talking to the girl, to come out and say anything about their system being tampered with. So it was either a cover up on the receptionist's part, or the girl had just been a distraction to get someone else in through the back door.
It would have been an easy case to crack if it hadn't been for how blurry the footage of the girl's face was, or how she kept her head angled away from the cameras. She knew what she was doing. For now he put out a warning with the vague description of a pink haired girl in bright green clothes… which he had a feeling was a disguise.
He hated it when kids were involved.
For now he would question the receptionist and see where that led him.
Balancing in this body felt like trying to run but with only one leg. Chakra had almost been like an extra limb, an appendage she could use to propel, stick to surfaces, and increase her range. She felt almost handicapped without it. But Moriko was doing everything she did without a tenketsu system. It was honestly impressive.
The idea of getting back to her old level of mobility was enticing. Maybe even more so than re-learning how to fight in this body. There was a certain freedom to being able to do exactly what you need to do with your body without thinking about it. So Aki took these tight rope lessons incredibly seriously.
Considering half her pay-check went to this she better...
"You're improving little cub. You'll find that balance comes from the core. Stop focusing on your feet, and let your torso decide where it needs to go," Moriko instructed.
Aki took in a deep breath and decided to listen to her instructor. Moriko knew what she was talking about after all. She stopped focusing on her foot work and concentrated on her core. She tried her best to ignore how perilous it was to even stand on such tiny rope, let alone walk through it. Despite that she focused on her stomach, feeling the distribution of her weight as she took one step, and then another, and another.
"I'm doing it," she breathed in shock, and just as she said it, she fell down into the net below.
She turned to Alley Cat and the woman grinned her wide Cheshire grin in approval. Aki couldn't help the upturn of her own lips into a rare smile, as she gave her instructor a thumbs up.
By the end of the day Aki found herself able to walk across the line without falling. She hadn't gotten to the stage where she could run yet, but this was the most progress she had in days. The other children clapped for her, and she felt a little flustered. They had been watching her intensive practicing while they too went about their routines. She hadn't been looking at them, but apparently, they had taken note of her intense motivation to get this down. Very rarely had strangers appreciated her efforts in her past life, so this was in fact very refreshing.
"If you ever want to quit your current work you always have professional acrobatics to fall back too. You're a natural, cub," Moriko said.
Aki flushed, unused to being called pet-names. She had a feeling Alley Cat didn't give out praise unless she meant it. That just made her statements all the better. Aki hadn't received half this praise from her Jounin sensei. Then again there was very little culture of praise or compliments in Iwa and this world was a little different.
Her joy was short lived as her instructor pushed her spine forward so far into her stretch, she thought her tendons would tear. She'd stretched before, but never this much. She grunted in pain as Moriko got her to bend her body in ways that shouldn't be natural.
"Now this is a part of our training I don't understand. Why does it matter if my head can touch my butt?" Aki hissed, as she felt the burn of the stretch.
"If you want to be out in the field with me for some proper experience, I need you to be fully mobile. If you cannot access every movement possible by the human body, then you haven't even begun to unlock the full potential of your muscles," Moriko chuckled.
Aki thought she was enjoying this a bit too much. Not that she would dare complain to a teacher. Sensei or not, that was disrespectful. She was here to learn, not to demand.
"My next match. I'll be allowed to use my quirk?" Aki asked.
"No, but you will have your weapons. It also means they'll have theirs. You got your gun ready, cub?"
Aki stopped her stretching and frowned. "No but I bought katanas."
Moriko looked at her with surprise and grinned widely. "Why didn't you say you've had training with weaponry before? This changes things."
"How so?"
"Well for one, your fights will be more entertaining. Guns are allowed, but it's often times frowned upon. I figured since you were young the obvious disadvantage you were already in would give you some leeway there. But most people who fight in the cage do so with knives. The more unique the weapon, the more people come to watch. A fight with katanas isn't incredibly unique, but you're an upcoming popular contestant anyway, so people will come by to watch more often," she explained.
"Which means more money in my betting pool, and more future line ups," Aki said, a little pleased.
"Exactly. I've already started advertising your match, but we'll keep the katanas a surprise. Though more than that you'll need a better outfit for stage presence. Your name hasn't really struck a chord with anyone either."
"It's my name," Aki growled.
"Touchy," Moriko tsked.
Aki let out a calmer breath, biting down her irritation.
"I won't take a name, but I do intend to buy some personalised gear. Giran has given me some contacts," Aki admitted.
Moriko glanced at her with an odd look. "Giran, is unpredictable as an informant."
Aki looked at Moriko and for a moment felt the need to defend her choices. She considered it for a moment and decided to listen to her advice. She was a Shinobi, and she dealt in reading people's intentions, and working through the dredges of society doing the hard bloody work. But... this wasn't the world she was used to. They may have had practices or tactics she wasn't even aware of. Her computer coding lessons were enough for her to understand that the skill sets she had as a Shinobi were a useful foundation, but the specifics of this world she would have to learn and grow accustomed to in her own time. She was very much still new to all of this. Alley Cat was not. She had the countenance of someone who grew up in this kind of environment. She walked through crime like she owned it. Aki chose to listen for that reason.
"People like Giran may seem neutral, but that neutrality only goes so far," Moriko began explaining. "You have the basic informants, the kind that listens and reports. They're usually tight for money and will sell their services to anybody. You can trust the information they give, but you can't trust them. Anyone with more money than you can get them to spill secrets about your dealings too. Then you have the vigilante types, the ones that keep an eye out for criminal rings and report to underground heroes. You can wring some information out of them if they think you follow their arbitrary moral codes. Finally you have people like Giran, who work for the lowest of the low. He's neutral in so far as much as he'll sell his information to the worst kinds of villains. Rape, murder, quirk trafficking, the whole deal."
Aki considered it for a moment. "I think you underestimate the vile things I can do."
Moriko regarded her with an uncharacteristic frown for the first time.
"Would you murder a child? Rape helpless vulnerable people for a power kick?" she asked.
Aki grimaced. "I'm not that kind of person."
Many children by this worlds standard had died to her blade. She had known other Shinobi who would rape civilians who they occupied, especially if they were from enemy nations. It wasn't a widespread or approved activity, but it wasn't hard to scare a vulnerable person into verbally confirming it was consensual after the rape. Aki had never stepped in to stop the behaviour despite not partaking in it. In some ways that made her just as bad as them, she supposed. But Iwa, Kumo, and Konoha had committed far more atrocities in the name of their villages, and she couldn't exactly call any of them blameless for the worst type of crimes.
"Giran sells his services to people like that. He must have seen some of that violence in you," Moriko considered.
Aki rose a brow. "Reconsidering teaching me?"
"Yes, if you don't see how this is concerning then I may stop entirely. I don't mind a bit of murder in a ring where there's consent to it, but terrorising innocent people is not on my agenda. I don't approve of it," she said.
Aki tilted her head. "What if I kill innocent women and children?"
She had before. Never raped, but she'd killed, and maimed, and ruined lives. All Shinobi had. Moriko's feline eyes narrowed at her.
"Would you?" she asked.
Aki considered it. "Not unless there's no other choice."
She took those kinds of jobs because Iwa would not have let her say no. An assassination was an assassination whether it be a well to do man or an orphan child. Everyone was equally expendable when it came to their contracts. But she wasn't under Iwa management anymore. She was working for herself, and she could choose to take less detestable jobs. She was capable of cruelty, but she had never enjoyed it.
"I won't take those jobs. I'm going independent so I won't have to," she settled on saying.
Moriko nodded, the hard glint in her eyes ending. "Smart answer. Keep in mind that people like Giran sell information for more than just money. He holds power over your actions too. Be smart and build a system. Never stick to one broker or task master."
"Noted," Aki said.
Now she had to go back home to check up on the weird blob monster she had taken home. She wondered if even Giran would know what the fuck it was…
A/N
I know this is a really packed chapter but honest to god it's necessary set-up for what's to come. Also thank you all for your comments! I wish I could reply back to everyone here on fanfic, but there really isn't an option to do so without private messaging everyone. If you comment on AO3 I'll be sure to get back to you. Love all of you, and thanks for your support!