"he wears the smell of blood and death like a perfume
there is fire in his eyes
and ice in his veins
but you love him anyway
for he is a star
burning with the light of a thousand suns
(and your world is dark without him)" -unknown
A week or so passed, and I was done mourning. We all were. We needed to move on, and that entailed doing Chisaki's stupid plan. Tenko and I knew we needed to join up with him, as much as we both hated the idea. It was almost necessary for the survival and longevity of the League. And Magne... did strike first, even if it was to protect us; as much as the harsh reality stings, it's true.
I simply promised myself to never trust him again, to never let him in my life again. He blew off Compress' arm and killed Magne, so obviously I wouldn't be first in line to hand over our League members or trust him with their lives, and we were going to negotiate terms, meaning we weren't going to work under him. I still can't believe he even thought that was something we'd agree to off the bat.
I got dressed, and I dressed nicely; white button down shirt with a black waistcoat and a tie of the same color, with form-fitting black pants and my combat boots. I only brought one gun, a pistol holstered at my hip, and one knife tucked away safely on my leg under the pants. Pulling a pair of gloves on, I knocked on Tenko's door. He opened it, wearing his overcoat, and Father was on his face. I smirked.
"You ready?"
"Tch. Yeah." He scoffed, and I followed him downstairs where Kurogiri was patiently waiting, leaned slightly against the wall.
"Where are you guys going?" Toga asked with an innocent smile, and I returned it, but didn't respond as Kuro surrounded us, warping us into the darkness and away from the League. We were dropped off in a tunnel; an ever-changing maze of tunnels just like the one we stood in lead to the Hassaikai base. Mimic, if I remember correctly, can control the walls and they shift around often to keep their operations safe. I sighed, rubbing my temples.
"Where in the hell are we, Y/N?" Tenko hissed. I chuckled coldly.
"It's a maze, to get to wherever they are. I've had to do this way too many times." I replied, rolling my eyes. "It's a pain in the ass."
So we began to wander, walking around, since from this far away, I couldn't pick up on anything, and all my quirks were raring to go. Running my gloved fingertips along the brick wall of the tunnel we were now walking through, I closed my eyes, both of our shoes making quiet footsteps in our echoing surroundings. I was starting to pick up on stuff, a gentle pull at my consciousness set my pace and direction.
"How long will this take?" Tenko growled, his voice sounding even rougher because of the echo. My lips quirked up a little in a smile.
"With my quirks... probably a half hour, or forty five minutes. That's how long it's taken before. Without them? Probably two hours."
"Do you trust him?" He suddenly asked, and I turned my head, shaking it.
"Personally? Not one bit. He's sketchy as all hell. But business-wise, I think this is too important to him for him to betray us... so I think he's trustworthy, for now." I rolled my eyes. "He's all about drugs and mafia lifestyles, and that's not us. We have two very different organizations."
"You've known him for a while." Tenko sounded gruff. I shrugged.
"I've known you longer. But yeah, I've known Overhaul since we were in our teens. We were close, but he got all money-hungry and power-obsessed and had completely different ideals from me, so we became strictly business associates. Not friends." I explained, fidgeting with my gloves.
"Were you guys...?" He trailed off, not only his voice but his expression twisting a little. I raised my eyebrows.
"Are you asking if we were screwing around?" I laughed. He didn't respond. "Absolutely not. I think I had a crush on him when I was like, fifteen, and that's as far as that went. Don't be jealous." I tugged his sleeve playfully, and he yanked his arm away, scowling.
"I'm not jealous." He mumbled. I laughed again.
"Mhm. Sure. But in all seriousness, no. I've never been in a relationship, you heard me tell Dabi that."
"You could've been lying." Tenko snapped. I shrugged, smiling at him, and the scowl on his face faded for a split second.
"I wasn't."
I pressed my hand to the wall again, feeling a bit of blood start trickling down my cheek from my ear and wiped it away, walking a little faster to ignore the heat rising to my cheeks.
After about a half hour, I began to pick up on thoughts, and soon afterwards, voices, and followed them, leading us to the building in which Chisaki was waiting. Mimic was with him, that tiny little asshole, and Chronostasis, the one with the sexy white overcoat, were with him. I didn't want to risk going through their heads, since oftentimes the person can almost feel or sense when I'm in their minds, but they were guarded and wary of us.
I nodded politely at the two as Chisaki sat on one of the two couches in the room, with a spotless glass table in between them, with a poster on the wall. That's it. Overhaul clapped his hands together.
"Hello, you two."
"Not big on decorating, huh?" Tenko scratched at his neck, pulling off his hood.
"I'm not a fan of cluttered spaces." The gangster replied in a deadpan as Mimic plopped on the couch arm beside him, with Chronostasis behind the two of us as we sat on the other couch.
"We've been wandering these tunnels for half an hour... way to make your guests feel like ants! Is every Hassaikai hideout as bizarre as this one?" Shimura griped.
"If not for Y/N's quirk, it would've taken even longer." Overhaul grinned at me, his face barely shifting under his beaked mask. "We can't ever be sure who's watching or what a guest is thinking, so we've got multiple shifting underground routes. This room is well hidden."
"We've survived as long as we have thanks to this intricate setup." Mimic chimed in, flipping through his deck of cards repeatedly. "So, about your call the other day... Did you mean it? You'll actually join us depending on the terms?"
"Depending on the terms." I echoed, smirking.
"That's a nice way of putting it." Tenko kicked his foot up on the table and I laughed, seeing Kai's face twitch a little, and kicked up both my boots as well. "You guys wanna use our name, and we wanna expand our influence. We both have something to gain here, no?"
"Get your filthy feet off my table." Overhaul leaned his head against his hand, fingers prodding at a scar. A scar. He can heal his wounds, why didn't he heal that one? Then I realized... that was where Magne struck him. "Y/N, you know I can't stand that."
"Mr. Boss, you should really be more polite and say something like, 'Please move your foot', or whatever. Show some humility." Tenko's sneaker didn't budge. I rolled my eyes.
"It's Ghost, Overhaul. Or should I say K-"
"Ghost." Overhaul sighed. "Please remove your feet from the table."
"No. We won't be working under you. We'll do what we want, when we want; 'we' being the League, of course." I changed the subject. "Let's be equals. Friends. Let's help one another out. I know you miss being my friend, Overhaul." I shot him a buttery-smooth wink. He studied my face, and I could tell he knew my optimism was strained, but I didn't care.
"Is that your condition?" He asked.
"Not quite." I responded.
"This plan you mentioned-" Tenko waved his hand slightly in expression, "-Explain it all. It's only natural to include us. After all, I've gotta decide if it's really worth lending you our name." He reached into his coat. "Especially because-"
Mimic jolted forward, and Chronostasis pulled out two guns, pressing one to each of our heads. My hands quickly found my pistol and I aimed it directly at Overhaul, leveling it at his head.
"A bit full of yourselves, aren't you?! You think you can tell us what to do?!" Mimic yelled.
"Try anything, Freak Girl, and I'll blow both you and your boyfriend's heads off." Chronostasis growled from behind me. I smirked.
"Oh really, Chrono? I have my gun here aimed at good ol' Overhaul, don't I?" It clicked, loading in my hands. "A bullet would go right between your boss' eyes. And Freak Girl? I know you can do better than that." I fell quiet for a moment, listening. "I can hear your heartbeat pulsing. Faster. Faster. You okay back there?"
"We still need compensation for our dearly departed Big Sis, and you owe us an arm. Get these guns off of our heads and let me finish what I was saying, or the deal is off." Tenko hissed.
"Let them go, Chronostasis. Both of you, back off." Overhaul glared at them. "He was in the middle of something, let him continue."
My silvery-blue haired companion reached into his coat again, pulling out a needled bullet.Twice had pulled it out of Compress' shoulder after the incident. "It has something to do with this, right? After you shot this tiny thing into him, Mr. Compress was unable to use his quirk."
"What are those, Overhaul? And what are you planning to do with them? Tell us, now." My eyes narrowed.
"I am going to destroy the way things are." Kai replied, expression darkening. "They say your master stole quirks to gain power. I'm taking that method and changing it up a bit. We're planting the seeds of change throughout the country. Little by little, we're laying the groundwork for the plan."
.
.
.
After some more discussion of the plan, Mimic was suddenly pleasant again.
"Ever play Shogi?" He asked.
"Nah, so put it away. I don't even know the rules." Tenko seemed more comfortable around the yakuza we were in contact with, but I was still incredibly on guard.
"Don't be like that." Chisaki met my eyes. "This is a chance to pick up a new hobby. Ghost, do you remember how to play?" I gave him a tight smile.
"On a level. The last time I played was with you."
"Shigaraki, see, the point of Shogi is to step back and take stock of the whole game. My favorite part is how you can utilize pieces stolen from the opponent." He picked up a piece. "Give me Y/N. Or Kurogiri. Toga. Perhaps Bubaigawara. I can't feel at ease with them running amok, maybe besides Ghost, here."
"Way to make us sound like objects for you to steal." I grumbled.
"Y/N is second in command to the League, and the others are my cornerstones." He scratched at his neck. "Why do ya want 'em so bad?"
"To build trust between us, and help clear away the ill will. I divulged every last detail of my great plan, so now... you two can do me a solid. Tomura, don't you like to make friends?" Overhaul nodded at his silence. "I suspect they will be here within two days. The heroes. They've been staking us, and our drugs, out. So we need to hussle."
.
.
.
That night, I was brought back in, alone, after Twice and Toga, who we decided should be involved, had an "info swap" with Overhaul, AKA a glorified interrogation. I didn't know why, but I was still rigid and uneasy. Tenko knew that I was here, and we had discussed the three of us (Twice, Toga and I), becoming temporary yakuza. I was supposed to play more of a kingpin, important role, while the others worked as "secret weapons" of sorts. They weren't super happy with the role, but neither was I, for obvious reasons I can only harp on so many times.
I sat across from Overhaul again, and he poured some wine. I took it, hesitantly sipping from the glass.
"You're uneasy, Y/N." He noted. "Is it because Shigaraki is not here?"
"He has nothing to do with my feelings towards you, Chisaki." I snarled, using his name as he thought he had the right to use mine. His expression soured. "Why am I here?"
"Just a friendly conversation." Overhaul replied after a moment. A strange buzz ran through me, even though I had only taken a few sips of the drink. The atmosphere and energy in the room suddenly shifted. Overhaul, Mimic, and Chronostasis' thoughts became more erratic; I could feel them without even actively trying. Their heartbeats changed pace. I felt woozy.
Did he fucking drug me?!
"Overhaul... what is-?!"
A white fabric cut off my words as it covered my nose and mouth. A sickly sweet, disorienting smell flooded my nose and mouth as I sharply inhaled, struggling against Chronostasis' strong grip, and almost immediately, I was unconscious.