The Number 1 That Matters

Two

Daylight burns. Izuku thought as he lurked in the shadows of a warehouse side wall while waiting for a client, another usual thought for people who lived in the Alleys. People often carried umbrellas in the day and rarely when it was cloudy and raining. That or jackets, which led to Alley people being able to withstand high temperatures. Alley people were their own breed, everyone knew this. Enhanced night vision, sensitivity towards sunlight, incredible heat resistance, the ability to go far longer without sleep and remain fully functional than normal people, and many other features. Izuku listed these as he squatted on top of a barrel that he had found, adding enhanced leg muscles to the list, or enhanced muscles in general, something you wouldn't expect when looking at an Alley person, their bodies were all slim built, they often needed to slip in between buildings or windows or tight spaces in general, so the muscle in their bodies adapted to put power into skinny bodies.

This was a reason why Alley people rarely left The Alleys, they were regarded as freaks whenever the public found out that their surprising strength or special senses were not quirk related. Another thing with The Alleys, quirks meant jack shit unless it helped with your job. A weak or strong quirk, a villainous or heroic quirk, it didn't matter as long as the job got done. It was a secret truth The Alleys liked to keep, and because it was a secret most people believed that most villains came from the shady city when in reality almost everyone from their became regular workers. Heroes were looked down on (unless they were from The Alleys because then the people knew for certain the reasoning was not fame or money, even though most people believe the road to becoming a hero is to much effort for such a useless position) and none of them had reasons to become villains.

Izuku snapped his head up towards a seemingly empty road and continued staring until a man and his followers leaked out from in between the buildings. "You Alleys are real freaks, we teleported in complete silence." Izuku didn't flinch at the word freak, opting to extend his had. "First," said the boss, "we need to see if you held up your end of the deal." With his other hand Izuku pulled out a small package from his pocket, his other hand remained in the air. "Good, you held up your end of the deal." Izuku sensed a but and tensed. "But sorry to say that we couldn't do the same." Three of the goons lunged at Izuku, who sprang easily into the air and landed on their heads, he pocketed the package and sighed, Big Sis would have to hear about this, which would be troublesome. The other four hesitated but a look from their boos sent them sprawling towards Izuku, who easily hoped onto the walls and bounced in between them like a rubber ball, kicking or landing on a person's head as he went. He relanded on his barrel as the last person fell. The boss growled, taking steps back, "Freak." Izuku scoffed internally, there were people in this city far worse than Izuku. The boss tucked tail and ran when Izuku stood up, that was one job down, now only three to go, a job to work at, an an over protective boss to report to. Grand. Another thing about Alley people. that hated to waste energy, they did things quick and efficiently, and another reason why they rarely left, other people simply went to slow.

Izuku hopped off of the barrel and began making his way to the next check point, pulling out his phone when he reached the first cross walk. It rang for three second before Mange picked up, "Hello?"

"Mange."

The voice on the other side yipped happily, "Oh, Izu! How are you? How did the transaction go? Did you get the money?"

"They attacked, several bodies sit in the alley." He didn't worry about what he said out loud, in The Alleys you could openly talk about a murder you were going to commit and nobody would care as long as the murder wasn't of a-

A. Child

B. Pregnant Mother

C. Innocent Animal (if it could be traced back to the murder than the dog was to be taken with them, murder of an animal was a last resource).

Worthless mutilation, torture, or un-needed pain, rape, or harm caused for petty measures were also looked down upon. But Alley petty is slightly different than regular petty, murdering someone over a hair do? Petty. Murdering someone because they stepped on you turf? Borderline petty.

"Again? Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?!"

"No, I knocked them out quickly, the boss ran." A few people made slight faces of disgust but remained otherwise emotionless, deserting your crew was most definatley looked down upon unless it was justified.

"Do you still have the package?"

"Yes."

"I'm sending Spinner over to collect it."

"Right."

"Take care, Izu."

"You as well."

He hung up and ducked into an alley in between a ramen shop and a thrift store, this is where he was to meet Tiger King and Spinner, whoever got there first did not matter to Izuku. It was Tiger King.

The large man harshly threw the money to Izuku, who caught it with little effort. "Now give me my papers, boy." This man was obviously a new client just like the last one had been, nobody who knew Izuku spoke to him with disrespect. Izuku pulled the orange envelope out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it onto the crate near Tiger King, it hit it's mark perfectly. Tiger King growled but picked up the file none the less, he sent one last glance to Izuku and wandered away. Minutes later Spinner jumped down from the rooftop. Izuku wordlessly took out the package he was supposed to give to his first client and handed it to Spinner as the green lizard approached him.

"How have you been, fellow green?"

"Fine."

"Such a detailed response! Have you been working on your grammar lately?" Spinner teased the younger one a bit more before patting him on the back and hopping away. Izuku sighed and headed to meet his third client, today was going to be a long day.