Another chapter, some backstory, some OC. The story will be centered around character from the show, I'm only adding some to ground the character in the world.
A couple of days passed with not much happening. He woke up, popped some painkillers, cleaned around the place, ate, and slept like he never had before. Now that he was more aware of his surroundings and his host's tendency to forget things, he started working on a few things to help her. It was also a way for him to feel less like a parasite and more like he was contributing to something. He didn't know how long her generosity would last, but he hoped to at least earn a warning before being thrown out. With all of that, he slowly started to regain some motion in the most bruised part of his body. He was still in pain, but he could now use his left arm again for more than just looking pretty, if he even managed that. So, he started working on the safety hazard that was the death pile in short bursts. He could barely move the heavier stuff, so he kept to what he could move safely. He was splitting the pile into three categories so far: gear, scrap, and tools.
It was boring, menial work, but he enjoyed doing it. It kept him occupied and focused enough to not get bored, and he could feel himself slowly getting better, which was a plus. Also, it was a good warm-up for when Mei came back to school and went into a rampage of rediscovering long-lost tools and babies she forgot she had even made. Also, he kept a close eye on her. He wasn't blind to her ever-expanding list of problems, chronic lack of sleep, or sudden bursts of energy in the middle of the night, being added to the tally now that he was less likely to sleep through one of her nightly baby-making sessions.
It had been close to a week since the attack, and today Takuma needed to go back to the city to get paid and learn who he needed to look out for when he was back on the street. So, this morning when he woke up, he didn't play possum until she left. He started to make breakfast before she even got up and about. Waking up early was second nature to him and a necessary part of handling his Quirk drawbacks. When he needed to go into a crowded part of the city, he always made sure to do it at an hour when most people were either sleeping or tired from work, and in a sense, less excitable than a few hours later when the nightlife would come online, and he needed to skulk back into his van. In the unlikely event it wasn't already reclaimed by the druggies he cleared out when he claimed the place.
He could feel Mei slowly emerging from her sleep. He heard her phone alarm from the living room, and Takuma didn't know if she would actually wake up in time for school since her sleeping schedule was simply non-existent, and he doubted she would learn anything at all with the state of exhaustion she was currently in.
He was done making breakfast when she finally emerged from her room, and after a quick detour into the bathroom, she walked into the living room with bags under her eyes that rivaled his own. "Good morning."
She stared straight at him for a few seconds. "Good morning," she mumbled before dragging herself to the nearest seat and grabbing the plate he made for her.
"I need to get to the city today," he said kindly, trying to grab her attention. "I don't know where I am, and the tablet you left me tells me I'm at 'Pizza' when I try to use the GPS."
He watched her eyes go in and out of focus as she looked at him. "Yeah, it does that," she chuckled absentmindedly.
"Mei, can I come with you today?" he asked, now keenly aware he wouldn't get anywhere unless he went straight to the point. "I need to check up on a few things."
"Sure."
The conversation ended there, and after reminding her of the time, they both left through the front gate of the scrapyard in the direction of the train station. Mei was daydreaming during their walk, and he needed to remind her to grab her school bag on her way out. She was in dire need of sleep, but it wasn't something he could do anything about right now, so he would keep an eye out for her until she was safe at school, at least.
When they arrived at the train station, Takuma had the displeasure of learning where he was.
Mustafu.
The place where U.A. University stood, the same one he had sworn never to go anywhere close to. It was also far away from the Nigheye agency, the closest landmark he was close to when he fought the mutant.
"Mei, how did you bring me here?" he asked.
"Car," she mumbled as she sat on one of the benches, put her bag on her lap, and buried her face in it.
"Where do you stop at?"
"The third one."
"Alright, go to sleep, I'll wake you up."
He barely finished his sentence before she was out like a light. Takuma could admit he'd never met someone quite like Mei. Every time he learned something about her, he had ten other questions pop into his head. In the few days he'd known her, she had gone from a bundle of energy to a sleep-deprived mess. Her home made his inner clean freak lose his mind, and her eating habits were clearly not the best. He was concerned; she was living alone and seemed to be struggling with something. He had no idea what yet, but he was keen on figuring it out because there was no way Mei would be able to keep up with her destructive tendencies.
The train came, and he gently coaxed her awake and brought her onto the train before finding her a place to sit. When the conductor came, she paid for two tickets, which he was glad for since he had no money to his name.
She dozed off a second later, and he was handed the change for the two tickets by the conductor. He slipped the coins into her bag. It wasn't the best thing to do, but he wasn't about to wake her up for something trivial when she was in desperate need of shut-eye.
Half an hour and three stops later, he was gently dragging her out of the train by the hand. She was luckily aware enough to start walking in the right direction, and they soon arrived at her school, where she waved goodbye to him and entered the grounds.
Now that she was in a safe-ish environment, he had all the time in the world to check where he was and where to find the closed den of debauchery where he could get paid. The hoodie he wore came with a hood, which he was making good use of. He hadn't dared to check the news after his last fit, and he wasn't willing to gamble on being recognized or not.
He walked around for a bit, making sure he remembered his way to Seikya High School, where he would meet Mei at the end of the day. So, for a while, he scanned his surroundings, looking for any signs of criminal activity. His mental walls were used to the background noise of hundreds of people going through their own lives, and he started slowly picking apart any gutterpunk in reach for a lead. Not a single one had anything particularly interesting going on. He couldn't feel more than surface thoughts and feelings of boredom coming from the lot. He knew it would be different at night when the world changed hands and the real critters came crawling out of the woodwork.
Feeling alone, he let himself be guided to an old brewery turned criminal hideout, his Quirk locked in a mind he had a long history with. He walked in without a care in the world in the dusty old shop and, with a few turns, stumbled upon a door guarded by a blonde guy with spiky hair and bright red makeup, well in his thirties.
"Who goes the-"
Takuma silenced him by grabbing him by the balls and squeezing. "Listen to me and listen well, you little shit. I've had a rough couple of days, and if you waste my time for even a single fucking second, I will make sure your corpse is paraded on the wall of the fucking Might Tower!"
A squeak of pain and terror later, he was in, and he walked right next to the counter where a woman with bright red volcanic hair and a sharp purple dress in her early twenties was polishing a cup. "If it isn't the Symbol of Misogyny himself," she drawled with an amused grin.
"Nova, still a little shit as always," he greeted one of the few friends he had left. "How's Missy?"
At the mention of her wife, Nova's face lit up with a smile. "Good, she got her teaching license a week ago."
"I'm happy to hear it," he told her truthfully. "I'm glad at least one of us is having a good time."
She laughed heartily at his words. "Yeah, something tells me fighting a mutie with a pipe wrench has something to do with that."
"And you would be right," he groused, feeling his shoulder ache. "Not my brightest idea, still alive though, so that must count for something."
"Yeah, how's the injury? Need anything?" she asked, with a hint of concern peeking through her facade.
"Nope, got picked up by a hero hopeful. I'm still not doing great, but they've been good to me so far," he answered non-committally, keeping an eye and an ear out for the other drinkers around him. "I'm here for Giran's kindness."
She hissed through her clenched teeth. "This is going to cost you."
"I know, but unless you've got a magic trick for me, I don't have a choice," he whispered. "I'm on the board, aren't I?"
She looked away, and he didn't need an empathy Quirk to know what that meant. "The Purist, Blood, and Quirkist have it out for you."
The human, mutant, and Quirk supremacist, in that order. It was worse than he hoped but better than he expected. "That's rough."
She let out an unladylike snort, and he sent a shit-eating grin her way. "Got you."
"Bitch," she cursed him out in good fun. "I can give you your money; the Lady's cut will be stiff, but you already knew that. I'll be right back."
Staring straight at the now empty spot once occupied by his friend, he turned his focus toward the other person in the room. No mutant, a few low-level criminals trying to get in the Lady's good graces; the only person that he thought could be trouble if he was recognized was a younger girl in her mid-teens. She was without a doubt one of the Lady's prospects and making a name for herself with an easy mark like him would help her tremendously. Peeking in her direction, he took in the sight of a strongly built girl with lavender hair in a pixie-cut looking at him with malicious intent.
"Here it is, buy yourself some cloth, would you? The color burns my eyes," Nova, who'd just come back, told him while pushing a thick envelope toward him.
It wasn't even half of what Nighteye had paid. Giran had taken his share, and the Lady did the same to honor Giran's kindness. An old system that allowed the broker to expunge the debt of some big player in exchange for moving cash. It was the best he could hope for until he was taken out of the bounty board and back into the anonymity he'd long gotten used to.
"No can do. I'd rather keep rocking the retired dad drip. I think it suits me," Takuma hummed while dusting his hoodie dramatically.
"Get out of here before I burn your sorry ass," she chuckled while shooing him away like an annoying puppy.
He pocketed the money and sat up from his stool. "Yes, yes, don't twist your fiery carpet in a bunch; I'm leaving."
She stuck out her tongue at him in a majestic display of maturity before her expression turned more serious as he made to walk away. "I'm glad you're okay, Tak."
"I'm happy to see you too, Novy. See ya," he waved, closing the door behind him.
He glared at the guard who was still clutching his pearls on the floor. "Have a nice day."
He started climbing the stairs with the silent whisper, "Fuck you too, dude," trailing behind him. Someone else was about to exit the den; the lavender-haired girl was keen to claim his bounties, and only some deep-seated respect for Nova stopped her from jumping him the second his hand had touched the handle.
Takuma made his way outside of the run-down brewery and started stretching his legs. He wasn't in shape for a fight, so his only real option was running away. He took his time to limber up as the girl finally left the den hot on his trail. Funny thing about being on the street: you could separate those who lived in it into two categories, the quick and the dead. And Takuma's legs were still in working condition. So, he started out in a simple jog, making sure to clutch the envelope in the central pocket of his hoodie to make sure he wouldn't lose it. The second he felt her eyes on him, he switched to a sprint.
She followed him, and he kept his pace, enjoying what a good few days of food and sleep without the threat of a random hobo disturbing his sleep had done for his health. His lower back was screaming at him to slow down the pace, but he ignored it, focusing on the whirlwind of emotion slowing down behind him. No wonder she was a prospect and not even a blooded member of the gang; if she couldn't keep up with him when he wasn't at his best. There were a few people on the street, and she didn't dare try anything too obvious. She couldn't afford to get a rep as a snitch; the heroes were always fond of breaking down dens, and leading a cape to one was the closest thing to a death sentence that could happen to any criminal in Japan.
Another minute passed by, and she dropped the chase. He kept his pace for another minute before slowing down and taking a breath. He missed running; he missed a lot of things, but now he could finally start rebuilding his meager possessions.
Starting with a pair of boxers, because Mei hadn't given him any, and going commando between two loads of laundry was getting old real fast. And awkward.
Alright, clothes first, and then maybe he would find a good use for the two hundred thousand yen he had earned.