Chapter 15
The Bigger They Are
Spider Journal Entry 85.)
It's been a few weeks since my last entry, but things have been changing. With Hoho now looking for the Kingpin, I now have an ally…in theory. She's brought her friend Katsumi in on it along with me,but all she's really asked me to do is get pictures of people for her conspiracy theory board.
….is it a conspiracy theory if I know it's true? Anyway, from how she's explained it, she's been tracking down people who in one way or another have worked for Kingpin, using the people who have worked with The Enforcers, who she found linked back to Mysterio through a fake shipping company which listed them as the owners, in the past.
This also got her onto the Tinkerer, the useful tidbit I've managed to add is his linkage with the recording of me going around since he was listed as the owner? Now we have a direct link to the Kingpin.
And what's even better is that more people are now talking, in fact she told me that someone has reached out to her directly to guide her in the right direction. Giving her names to investigate. So far they haven't been anything major, a few low lives here and there but they're still people I've either tangled with when I've interfered with Kingpin's operations or people I can keep in mind for later when I do get around to them.
She's feeding all of this to her boss as well, but by bit to get the bigger picture across. She's going along with it too. But to be safe she's having Taneo spread word through the other news outlets he works for. If we're the only ones making news about it, it'd make everyone at the news station a target.
It's progress, but we need to find out who the Kingpin really is.
Spider-Man swung through the early October sky, adding a web down below to arch his swing down towards the street as a police car chased after a man who was, without any hyperbole, maneuvering through the streets on a rocket powered trash can lid. And it wasn't that Izuku couldn't understand the technology that he was seeing, it was without a doubt a trash can lid with a pair of all turbine rockets poking out the back while the rider raced through the streets.
"I have so many questions." Spider-Man said excitedly as he swung down beside the thief, a bag of diamonds slung over his back in a bag. Swinging parallel to the thief on the ground, he reached over and tapped their shoulder, "Ok so does your quirk work by anything you touch, or do you have to be able to stand on it?" He asked.
"BWA!" The thief yelped as he turned down a street corner while Spider-Man wrapped around a lamppost. Bracing himself against the pole, he fired a pair of weblines at the racer's back, snagging him off his 'board' which flew off down the street before flying off into the air without the weight on it.
The rider fell back onto the ground before webbing encased him and hoisted him up by the traffic light. "You know what, don't tell me, adds to the mystery." he said as the police cruisers pulled to a stop. The officers exited the vehicles with their hands on their sidearms, but not drawn.
"Freeze Spider-Man!" The first one yelled.
The Vigilante stopped, "Um…no? Sorry!" He apologized before launching himself into the air and swinging off, "I know you're just doing your joooooobbb!" He called back over his shoulder as he swung away. He didn't really need to worry about the police that much, outside of calling in a helicopter they couldn't really keep pace with him web swinging through the city.
He shit out another web line after leaping off the last one and flying through the air between buildings, he really did want to ask that guy questions about his quirk. While not every quirk he encountered would be considered 'hero material' they were still fascinating to Izuku.
But he was getting sidetracked, he was on his way to a stakeout. With how much information Hodo had been gathering, he thought of a way he could finally get a break in this whole thing. Swinging up above the nearby skyscrapers, his lenses focused on the familiar penthouse in the distance, the same one the Kingpin had laid his trap for him in.
It struck him as odd that the Kingpin used this place as a trap. It wasn't exactly isolated, it was a penthouse in the middle of the city. Regardless of wealth that wasn't the typical location where you would kill someone unless you could ensure that no one would report it. So Izuku did some digging at the news station and found that, according to official records, no one owned this building.
It was a black hole in terms of information, nothing about it came out and whatever questions asked about it were inhaled and disappeared. It had to be the Kingpin's headquarters.
Dropping onto a billboard that had the building in sight, Izuku scanned the rooftops for somewhere that had a view of the street. Seeing a shorter building in front of the tower, he leapt from his perch, shooting out a strand of silk to swing from. As he closed in on the rooftop however, his sixth sense buzzed gently in his skull as he approached, pulling on the webline he pivoted his arc to a nearby wall, "What the heck?" he muttered to himself, feeling his Spider Sense pulsing at the rooftop.
Out of all his powers, his Spider Sense was the most mysterious to him, however whenever it warned him he listened. Though if he could always react in time was another matter, and as far as he was aware it never reacted like this….something was off about that rooftop but he couldn't tell what.
Was it boobytrapped like the penthouse's? It felt…similar to that, but crawling along the wall above it he couldn't see any sign of any traps. Plus who would go as far to arm all the rooftops AROUND their base of operations?
…..well if they had the money to do so maybe, but still that seemed excessive.
Before Izuku was about to shrug off and find another rooftop however, he noticed something on the wall below him, underneath the ledge that went around the building was a rounded black device poking out and peering down onto the rooftop. It was a camera!
Wait, how did…I mean it'd be dangerous if I went down in front of the camera while staking out the Kingpin's place…..so then I guess that's what caused me to sense it? Spider-Man thought, rubbing the side of his head in confusion. Regardless he could just break the camera….but that might tip Kingpin to his presence, still it was good to know that there was security around the building as well. Meant that if he needed to ever lure someone out he knew how. The next ten minutes he spent searching rooftops, being careful if his Spider Sense went off at any of them and making a note of the ones that had surveillance.
He finally found a space to hide out covertly…though not on a rooftop, instead inside the gap of the large Kanji which were extruding out from the wall of a building. It wasn't exactly spacious, but he had enough room to stretch out against the wall if need be. And it provided the perfect view of the front door below, as well as the underground garage entrance on the side of the building, "Alright, this looks like a good spot. Might as well get comfortable." he said, crouching down and looming over the front entrance as he reached into his web pack and pulled out his camera.
All he needed was one good picture of the Kingpin, if he got it to Hodo he was sure she could track down who he was. He couldn't just give her a vague description because how would he even explain how he knew him without tipping her off to his secret identity? If he was a pro…well things would be different. He tried not to let it get to him, he was helping people every day and was making a difference. And Izuku wasn't disappointed with it in the least, and while it was true that he wasn't always victorious, all the people he set out to save winded up safe and sound. But part of him still wished he could do more, not that Hodo's work wasn't enough he was more than happy to help her investigate, in fact he found it to be extremely enjoyable.
But it was frustrating how limited he was in other ways. If he could just testify against Kingpin, would the records on this place be pulled like a pro could do? Then this would be over already with Kingpin in jail and his empire dismantled. But this had been his choice, and he needed to live with what that entailed. Which meant he had to stake this place out on his own and wait to get a photo of Kingpin to use to track him down. With enough time and research, Hodo said they would then turn their evidence over to a pro hero agency who would investigate their claims and hopefully arrest the kingpin. Or at the very least halt his operations. But first thing was first, he needed to find out who the Kingpin was, and for now that meant being patient.
Across the street from the vigilante, in the ivory tower of the penthouse, the Kingpin and his lieutenants were in his office, the three standing on the other side of the desk while the monarch of crime sat behind it with a frown. "This situation has gotten out of control." he said in a monotone voice. "Because of the Spider's actions, not only has he interfered with our operations but now clients are not even speaking with us," he said. After the failed attempt to acquire a sample of President Rogers' blood for Humanrise, the organization had gone dead silent on communication with them. And they weren't the only ones, the Shie Hessaikai who had been relying on them to move Trigger across Japan was now halfing their shipments and using their own means. Grian, a recruiter who helps enlist low level villains to do their dirty work and worked closely with the Rose, has informed them that people are taking their business elsewhere.
"Mysterio's fall has had people start asking questions." The Rose agreed, "He's remaining silent, our people on the inside confirm it." he said.
"Which means that someone is poking their nose into our business." The Fixer growled out, the Tinkerer shuffled to the side. He had also had issue getting some of the supplies he neede from their regular people but he could get by without it, and he could tell from the tension in the air that it might be better to keep his mouth shut.
The Kingpin grit his teeth, "Someone is drilling holes in our ship gentlemen. Find them." he growled out.
The Rose nodded, "Already working on it, our people in the media are asking around to see where the information on our operations is being leaked from. Once we know where, we'll investigate."
"No." The three stood still at the ice cold tone. "You will not investigate it. You will find who is responsible for this. You will bring them here to me. And then I will show them what happens when they interfere with my business." the Kingpin said as he turned and stood from his chair. "And then we will gather everyone, and I will show them the corpse of the one who was stupid enough to try and threaten me, my livelihood, my operation. And then they'll know that the next time they reconsider our offers, a similar fate awaits them."
The Tinkerer swallowed audibly but aside from that, the room was silent, "Rose, stay. Fixer, Tinkerer, leave us." he said. The two who were dismissed shared a look before taking their leave, the Rose meanwhile stayed behind without an ounce of hesitation. The doors to the office closed, but Kingpin didn't speak until he heard the echo of the elevator doors shut. "Take off your mask."
The Rose paused briefly, but a moment later did as his employer asked, grasping the deep purple as he took ahold of his shades and removed them before pulling his mask off. Kingpin looked into the other man's eyes, "Fixer caused this." he said bluntly. "His idea to Kure the Spider here to begin with kickstarted these events into motion." he reflected. "And the only reason I entertained such an idea is because you spoke out and encouraged it. Explain."
And so he did, "I believed that if you couldn't kill him, the least that could have been done was to show him the fruitlessness of his efforts. Demoralize him and make him give up this stupid crusade." the man said as he laid his mask down on the desk. "But I miscalculated." he admitted.
The kingpin was silent, he then nodded so subtly that one could easily miss it if they weren't paying attention. "I thought something similar," he agreed. "But this has also made me question Dangan's loyalty." he turned and laid his large hands on the table. Staring into the Roses' eyes he continued, "He set this in motion, possibly with this all intended. For all we know he could be the one feeding information to the press."
The Rose frowned, "Why?"
"He fears losing his position in the Prosecutor's Office more than he fears me." Kingpin was quick to reason. "And just imagine it, the hero, Lead Prosecutor, infiltrates and topples a criminal empire. What better way to secure their position while creating a reason for all the people he's helped get out of jail for us." he further reasoned. The large man let out a sigh, "He doesn't know that I've had people following him, and that he's been dropping by a News station recently in the late hours of the day."
The Rose swallowed, "...what is it that you're asking me to do?"
The Kingpin stared at him, "I just made a promise to have whoever responsible for this be strung out and brought before me. I want you to make that happen."
The Rose's eyes widened by a fraction of an inch, but they quickly adjusted as he nodded understandably, "Alright… I know just the man for the job."
Itsuka felt her lungs burn as she pulled the washing machine behind her, the harness she wore over her shoulders and chest dug into her skin through her track jacket but she ignored the discomfort and focused on the path ahead of her. The Entrance Exam to U.A. was in February and it was almost November, which meant that she had give or take three months left of training to prepare her body for One for All. Which meant resistance training with this stupid washing machine machine strapped to her, with a few more steps, her shoes digging into the ground as she leaned forward to use her weight to pull the washing machine right to the flatbed of the truck.
All Might clapped his hands together, "Well done!" he praised as she took a knee, taking a few breaths to recover and cool down the heat in her chest, the cold Fall air helping with that greatly. As she turned her head to the beach however, she almost couldn't believe her eyes, where a few months ago she felt herself doubting herself and her place as All Might's successor, she couldn't help but feel pride at the progress she's made. They were almost to the shoreline.
"I must say this is going better than I anticipated." All Might said with a smile, helping remove the harness from Kendo's back before throwing it into the back of the offered Ituska a hand, she briefly looked at the lanky arm but deciding not to crush her mentor's spirits, took it and was helped up to her feet.
"Thanks All Might…..honestly at the rate we're going…." she didn't finish the thought, she shook her head at the idea but All Might cupped his chin.
"You might be finished sooner than expected." he finished for her.
Kendo swallowed a lump in her throat, "Y-Yeah."
It was almost too optimistic to say out loud, but even if that somehow jinxed it, and somehow all the trash suddenly re-appeared tomorrow it didn't just undo the progress she made.
Toshinori smiled, "Thankfully I prepared for this in case." he said as he turned to his pupil.
Who couldn't stare back at him in disbelief. "…What?"
All Might tilted his head at her slightly, "The Aim to Pass American Dream Plan has a contingency if you were to finish early. It was always a possibility, I had it in the binder." He told her. Kendo blinked, she had read the damn binder from cover to cover but she didn't remember this! All Might saw the befuddled expression and swallowed, "Er…..I'm pretty sure I did?"
The redhead girl took a deep breath through her nose, "Enlighten me."
Symbol of Peace and Justice? Sure. Organizational savant? Not even close.
Coughing into his hand, Toshinori stood up straighter, "In case you do manage to finish early we'll switch our focus to training your quirk." he began, "Since we've spent all this time focusing on building your body to become a proper container for One for All, we'll use the remaining time to let you acclimate to using it properly."
Kendo nodded, the way All Might explained his quirk was that it was an enhancement on every aspect of herself. The idea that her own strength would be comparable to All Might was still hard to…wrap….her head…."Um, All Might. What was the planned day that I would get One for All?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, February 26th." He answered readily.
"….All Might." Itsuka frowned. "That's the SAME DAY as the Entrance exam." She told him.
The symbol of peace opened his mouth to confirm that but upon seeing the glare she was giving him he changed his answer to, "Uh….really?"
In hindsight deciding to play dumb wasn't the smartest move.
"Yes. Really." She answered him, "Which means if I hadn't busted my ass to get further ahead of schedule, I wouldn't have any time at all to get used to One For All BEFORE my exam." She scolded harshly, the adult swallowing the lump in his throat as he was suddenly flashing back to his own master doing the same thing to him when he was around Itsuka's age.
"W-Well, not…..not exactly." His student's glare focused on him, "I-I mean that even if we didn't reach the goal by the exact day then I still would have given you One For All with enough time to train with it!" He quickly added, lying through his teeth as easily as he breathed.
Itsuka's glare did not falter in the slightest, "How much time?"
"Pardon?" he squeaked out.
"The time. How many days with One for All would I have had if we didn't clean up the beach?" she asked. The scrawny blonde man was starting to sweat bullets
"E…Enough! Plenty of time to get you acclimated to the power of One for All!" he assured her.
Kendo huffed unconvincingly, but she dropped it for now and instead decided to keep this for later grilling on her part. A sudden chime from her pocket drew her attention, pulling her phone out she saw a reminder she had set for herself, "Oh right!" She said and turned to All Might, "Um, I gotta make a really quick call." She said, holding her phone up.
All might smiled and nodded, kendo walked a couple feet away and dialed the number on her phone and held it up to her ear, "Hey Ken, what's up?" Setsuna's voice asked in a dour tone.
Kendo's eyes widened, today had been the day that U.A. held it's Recommended Student Exam, students from all across Japan who had been put forth by their schools were allowed to take an early test to get into U.A.'s coveted hero course and bypass the entrance exam. But out of all those who applied, there were only four spots between the two classes of hero courses, meaning it was a steep climb to the top of that mountain. Setsuna had been informed months ago that she had been selected for it, and had spent hours training and honing her skills to be good enough to be accepted into the hero course.
But by the sound of her voice…..
"I….was just calling to hear how the test went." she said, trying to remain chipper.
"Oh…yeah….that." Setsuna replied sadly.
Kendo felt her chest clench painfully at the tone, "Setsuna, look. You still-"
"I freaking passed it!"
Itsuka blinked before she grinned wryly while her friend cackled, "Oh you bitch, I'm going to deck you in the face when I see you." she chided but couldn't find it between the relief and the humor to find any actual malice to put into the threat.
"Smack me around all you want I'm on cloud nine right now! It came down between me and this guy who could melt into the ground. He was really good but my speed training really came in handy." she admitted, Kendo could tell she was still running high off the adrenaline of being picked. "Seriously I owe Parsley big time. His advice really worked!"
Kendo felt her own face warm up at Set's mention of Midoriya.
She had, of course, told NO ONE about the dream she had the night of her birthday a few weeks back. If Set or Yui knew about it she'd be the victim of teasing from them for the next decade, and that was just her! Forget about what they'd do with Midroiya, he'd be comatose within a week. As for the freckled boy she…..well she didn't do anything really. What was there to say? She had a random dream where they made out…..and pinned him down to the mat of her dojo…and was trying to get him to-see this, this is why she didn't tell him it was awkward!
She chalked it up to being touched by his gift to her, with a healthy mix of being single since she dumped her ex….which honestly made the whole thing even more….surprising to say the least.
She hadn't had another dream like that, thank god, so she could still talk to Midroiya face to face without any issue. But it was still in the back of her mind. It'd fade with time, surely, she just needed to ignore it.
"I think he's working today. I was texting him last night and he mentioned something about being on assignment for a while?" she explained with a shrug.
"Again? Didn't you say he was running around all of Tokyo last week?" Set asked with surprise. "One workaholic was bad enough but I don't know if I can handle two."
Itsuka rolled her eyes, "Well you'll be handling me tomorrow night when we go out to celebrate." She said with a smile, their families had planned to go out to a sushi place to celebrate her acceptance…..or soften the blow depending on if she passed or not. But thankfully it was the former instead of the latter.
"I can't wait! Look, I gotta run and catch my bus back to the front gates. But I'll see you tonight!" she said. The pair of friends said their goodbyes and hung up, Kendo smiling at her friend's success. There had always been an unspoken fear that she, Set, and Yui held together about their plans of attending U.A. What if none of them got in? Or worse yet, what if not all of them got in? They had all agreed to each other that if the worst was to happen, if only one of them could get into the coveted hero course, that they wouldn't hold anything against each other. And with Setsuna's spot secured, Kendo was happy to find no jealousy, but instead nothing but happiness for her friend.
And if Yui got in while she somehow failed? She knew she'd feel the same way. Which meant if she didn't get in, she had only herself to blame.
She turned back to the beach…..and then took a long breath, she walked back over to All Might, her mentor turned to her and saw the determined flash in her eyes, "Young Kendo?"
"How long do you think I could finish cleaning the beach? Earliest estimate?" she asked.
All Might blinked at the question, he looked at the progress they had made already, with the end of February being the time that he was aiming for originally. But then again, given her daily progress….take out the entire kitchen sink someone threw out because that's just not easy to carry? "I'd say….a month before the entrance exam. So two months."
Kendo nodded and smiled, "Alright, then I'm aiming for a month and half."
Stakeouts were…..so…..so…SO boring.
Make no mistake, Izuku knew full well that such things were necessary for heroes to do since they would lead to confronting criminals during crimes in progress, or stopping them before they could happen depending on the situation. And on paper it makes sense, but in practice? Imagine sitting still for hours, not perfectly still but still enough that you're not noticed and just blend in. And you're not allowed to just daydream. You have to pay attention to what it is you're focusing on, otherwise you might miss something crucial like the man exiting Kingpin's building and managing to snap a photo of him. And not only being surprised that only one person had come out, but it was someone he recognized.
Lead Prosecutor Dengan. The same prosecutor who issued a warrant for Spider-Man's arrest. If he was being honest there was a part of him that really hoped Kingpin was bluffing about having people inside the system that were in his pocket. But the fact that he was there led him to Beltane otherwise, and that was a problem on multiple levels.
Outside of the fact that he had someone in the prosecutor's office who was doing Kingpin's bidding, he couldn't just take this Hodo without any explanation. He would need to have photographic proof that implied they were working together. And it wasn't as though this man would be caught in an incriminating encounter with a known villain.
He needed a way to reveal him as someone in Kingpin's pocket…..which meant another stakeout. But not today, tomorrow was another stakeout day.
For now he just wanted to go home, put on some internet videos of heroes, and make some observations. However upon walking into his home and seeing his mom washing the dishes, he couldn't just ignore that. "Thank you so much honey. I really appreciate it." Inko said as she rinsed the plate in her hand with soap and water before handing it to her son to dry it with a towel.
"Anytime mom." He told her with a frown, "Sorry I haven't been around to help out as much lately…..I know I used to help more it's just-" he began before a slash of water hit his hands. He turned to see his mother give him a half pouty look.
"Don't you start with that. I'm glad you're out and about more." She said before smiling. "You're making friends, you're earning money working with Hodo, and you're on track to join U.A." She listed off with pride which made Izuku's fade warm at the praise. Inko slowed her washing, "I know that you've gone through…..well you've had a lot of changes these past couple months, and I want to say that I'm proud of you."
Her son smiled bashfully at the praise she heaped on him, he took the plate she handed him and washed it, "That reminds me, Emi called me earlier, they're going out tomorrow night with the Togake's to celebrate their daughter passing the Recommended Exam?" she informed, a little unsure if she remembered the name of the exam correctly.
Izuku's eyes widened in astonishment, "Setsuna passed!? That's great!" he said excitedly.
HIs mother nodded, "Isn't it? Anyway, I actually made plans with the Bakugos so I won't be able to go. But I wanted you to know in case you wanted to stop by and celebrate." she told him.
His first instinct was to accept, but then what about Dengan and Kingpin? He was going to stake out Degan tomorrow after school…..but then again there was no guarantee it would lead to anything. Hell he didn't even know for a fact that he was actually involved in Kingpin's criminal activities. For all he knew he just knew who the Kingpin was in his everyday life as a Prosecutor, and maybe Kingpin was influencing him to pursue Spider-Man on a legal basis.
Ugh! Why can I never get a straight answer? He thought in frustration, "Um, sure mom. I'll drop by. I'll text Kendo about it." he told her.
Inko gave her son a small smile, "She's a really nice girl Izuku." she hinted subtly.
He smiled and nodded as he put the bowl he dried off to the side of the sink, "Yeah she is." he agreed before frowning a little, he hadn't stopped by the beach in a while with all his days taken up by taking Kingpin's operations down that he hadn't gone down to check in on her progress in a while.
Inko hummed, "She's also very polite."
"Yeah, she is." he agreed.
Inko smirked, "She's very pretty too isn't she?"
"Hmmhmm." He replied without really thinking. "...wait huh?" he suddenly asked.
Inko sHrugged her shoulders, "I was thinking she's a beautiful young lady is all." She rephrased casually. Izuku blinked, Kendo was very pretty…..no, scratch that, she was beautiful like his mom said. The thought alone made his face warm, he had been guilty of….noticing how beautiful she was. Especially when training, he knew that people generally weren't considered appealing when doing physical exercise but Kendo on the other hand?
"Y….Yes. Yes she is." He shyly agreed as his mother handed him a plate.
Inko smiled to herself, when Hodo mentioned he was going to get her a gift for her birthday she had been surprised more than she should have. Of course he would go out of his way when he had such little friends growing up. And Emi had mentioned before how Kendo hadn't brought a boy home since her last boyfriend over a year ago, something she didn't pry about since Ryuji and Emi seemed to still hold disdain for the boy.
But part of her hopes that maybe….maybe there was something there.
But she also recognized that her son, for as smart as he was, for empathetic as he was, had a blind spot when it came to girls. I blame myself partially. But then again with how his father was? I'm only taking half the blame. She thought, recalling how apparently dumb her husband had been when it came to flirtations.
While the Midoriya family was busy cleaning their dishes, Hodo's car pulled into the sun basement of a parking complex. The only light sources being from the suspended lights above in the ceiling, with none of the sunsetting daylight being able to reach down into the concrete. "I still don't like this." Hodo turned her head to her passenger seat, Katsumi sat in the seat with her amber eyes darling across the shadows of the garage and the sparsely parked cars.
Hodo frowned, when they had been reached out to by an anonymous source two weeks ago, Hodo had been put on edge. She had been careful to distribute the news stories related to the kingpin as much as she possibly could. And someone reaching out to her meant either one of two things, an ally or a trap.
Her hand reached over to her longtime friend's on the console, Katsumi turned to look at her with a worried expression. Hodo flashed a reassuring smile, "Which is why you're here. If anything goes wrong, you start the car, get me, and leave." She reminded her. Katsumi rolled her eyes, "Look, his info was good about that dockyard security team. And now they're under investigation. So the intel he's giving us is reliable."
Katsumi sighed, "I know. Just…..be careful, on?"
Hodo leaned over and pecked her girlfriend on the lips, "Always." She assured her before unlocking the door and stepping out of her car. Shitting the door behind her, she turned and walked down the lane like she had done the last time she was here. Her eyes darted around cautiously as she approached a pillar that supported the ceiling above.
She stopped in front of it, turned, and leaned against it, "You got my message?" The voice asked from the other side.
Hodo nodded, despite the fact he couldn't see her do it, "I did. You said your employer called you in for a meeting today. What did you discuss?" She asked.
"General update. How our enterprises are going, our losses, our gains." the man answered vaguely.
Hodo frowned, "And?" She probed.
"My employer is feeling the pressure. He knows that you're onto him and wants you found and taken care of." The informant warned. "If you're still serious about this, get a pro to protect you." he advised.
Hodo smirked a little at that, if she was doing something that was getting under the Kingpin's skin then she needed to keep doing it. "Good advice. Is there anything else you can say?" she asked hopefully.
The man paused, "….you mentioned before that there was a shipping company before."
Hodo nodded, "Lotus Exotics, I looked into them but they're legitimate. There's been investigations into them but they've turned up clean every time." She explained. Whomever the kingpin was, they owned a multitude of businesses across Japan, however each and every one went back to some shell corporation that would transfer the ownership to another shell company.
So it was basically all leading back to a dead end…..Lotus Exptics seemed legitimate though…..which seemed odd. "Is there anything you can give me?"
"No. If I say too much then they'll learn how close the leak is." The man said. Hodo nodded in understanding, knowing better than to press for more at the time. Sources like this could only point her in the right direction, none of what was discussed here would ever be put in the record, that was the deal. And while it didn't make things easy it protected her source as well as gave her a lead.
"Alright. Like last time then?" She asked.
"Yes…..good luck Ms Hodo." The man said before walking away, she listened for the footsteps, counting each one in her head before she reached fifty, by then the footfalls were just an echo in the parking garage by the time she stepped away from the pillar. Returning to her car, Katsumi looked at her with relief, her eyes still glancing around the dark.
"Well?" She asked hesitantly.
"Lotus Exotics." Hodo replied.
Katsumi blinked. "But it's legit?" She asked.
Hodo nodded as she turned the keys in her ignition and started the car. "Exactly, it's the one clean business in a whole conspiracy that goes to shell companies." She explained. Katsumi nodded, it was negative space against a larger portrait,
Which made it all the more suspect.
Aldera High School's gym class was nothing special. The students were gathered in the gymnasium in their gym clothes and then put through exercises for the week. While for most it would push their body to a reasonable limit, for two students in particular, they were anything but that. For Katsuki Bakugo, it was a waste compared to his own personal training routine he had been doing at home. And Izuku Midoriya…well it wasn't even a challenge really.
Sitting up with his arms over his chest, he looked the same as everyone else but only more consistent. Bakugo meanwhile was going fast as he could to push himself, "What should u wear to the dinner tonight? It's at a restaurant, I think I have a nice dress shirt I could wear….but wait did I wear that to Kendo's dinner?" He muttered aloud to himself as the gym teacher blew his whistle, signaling the students to stop and switch over to push ups.
Which again was no problem for Izuku, "I mean it's a nice shirt but maybe I'll use a nice pullover instead? Kendo said it was casual, do I need to dress super nice?" He wondered, beside him Bakugo's. Lips curled into a sneer.
"Will you shut the fuck you Deku?!" He barked at Izuku. He jumped in place at the sudden shout. His first instinct was to apologize and move away, but instead he didn't reply. And stayed quiet, "Bad enough I have to do these stupid exercises. I don't need your dumbass muttering about some heroes." Izuku frowned and continued to do his pushups, he heard Bakugo scoff, What? Nothing to say?"
"I was thinking about my plans tonight." He slipped out.
Bakugo stopped before he belted out a, "HA! Plans? Like what? Sitting in front of the computer stalking people with quirks?" he stopped and turned to the blonde, who was grinning cockily, "Oh what, touch a nerve Deku?" he turned back to the ground and continued the push up exercise.
"I'm meeting some friends tonight." He answered quickly.
"Ha! Sure, right. Like anyone would be friends with a quirkless Deku." The blonde scoffed. It wasn't the most creative insult but that didn't make it sting the young vigilante any less, he mostly tried to ignore Bakugo's taunts at school and instead focused on either class or what was going on with the Kingpin. "Are you just following them around like you did with me?" He mocked.
"I-I-I'm not." He sputtered, wincing at how he had been easily reverted back to being nervous.
"Whatever. Not like they're gonna stick around a quirkless nobody like you for long anyway." He smirky remarked.
The whistle from the gym teacher couldn't come soon enough, Izuku was on his feet and making his way towards the locker room in a B line, trying to shove the thoughts that Bakugo had asked him down…..but he couldn't. Because they were the same ones he tried to ignore himself.
Reaching the locker room, he quickly changed, he had lunch the next period but instead of heading to the cafeteria, he headed up the stairwell that led to the roof access door. It was unlocked, with the t as ok fences along the ledge there wasn't really a concern of someone hitting themselves unless their quirks could allow for such a thing. However, no one hardly came up here, it's why Izuku used it as a place to change without worry.
Using his powers, he called the wall and antenna that stuck up above the school, sitting on the mental rung he looked down below himself with a frown, watching as some students left the school to get lunch at one of the nearby shops. All of them together with friends…..but not him, Izuku would spend lunch today like he had every day. Alone.
He had been in such a miserable mood when he spilled his status as quirkless to Kendo that he didn't really have time to register it until much later. What if…what if this was all out of pity? What if the reason she invited him to train was to just try and make him feel better about…..being himself?
No that was stupid, Kendo was nice because she was a good person, it wasn't out of pity. But….what about the others? Would they just pity him if he told them he was quirkless? Kendo assured him they wouldn't, but she couldn't know for sure could she? Suddenly the thought of a dinner with Kendo and her friends made a ball of anxiety form in the pit of his stomach.
Maybe Bakugo wasn't far off? What if kendo only invited him because she didn't want him to feel left out? What if it wasn't pity but just….charity? No wait that didn't make sense either, Kendo didn't tell anyone else he was quirkless. And regardless of her intentions on hanging out with him she wasn't a dishonest person. The kindness she showed him was genuine, he could see that.
It was just best to keep his quirkless status to himself…thought the guy who was sticking to the side of a radio antenna.
He leaned back until his head touched the strut behind it, just a few more months and he'd be gone from here and hopefully attending U.A.
At least then he'd be able to see Kendo and the others more right? Sure they would be in the hero course but it wasn't like there was some weird rule that courses couldn't interact with one another…then again something like that wouldn't surprise him at some hero schools. He knew a few of them could be pretty strict.
Shinketsu for example prohibited people within the same course to date one another. He remembered how it caused quite a stir in the news, saying how it seemed incredibly orthodox with older value systems of Japan.
Izuku felt his cheeks blush a little, dating was very clearly not something that was in the cards for him here. Not that he didn't think about it. He was a healthy teenage boy, with hormones like anyone else, and he found himself attracted to girls like most people his age. Not that anything other than that orientation he found anything wrong with, love who you love was a saying that he personally liked.
But with how much of a social outcast he was…..no one found him interesting. Or attractive. And that was a blow to his self esteem to be sure. Hell Kendo was the first girl his age he talked to so freely, and she was beautiful, confident, kind, and-
Izuku blinked. …Wait what? Where did….man mom's comments last night must be stuck in my head. He dismissed, ignoring the fluttering in his chest as he pushed off the radio tower and landed on the roof. He needed to get to lunch and finish off the leftovers he brought in for the day.
Kendo was glad that her parents Were willing to drive to the sushi place instead of taking the train. She was also glad that they could pick up Yui along the way, her parents unfortunately couldn't attend due to working late but had gotten a gift to give Setsuna as congratulations. Her parents dropped the two of them off at the sushi place while they went to park the car.
The restaurant wasn't strictly formal, there were a number of booths lining the walls and tables set up around the space with a fully stocked bar in the center of the large room. At the far back there was a staircase that led down to the game area which had a number of party games, which given why they were here would probably get some good use out of tonight.
Entering the restaurant she spotted Setsuna's parents at the bar, the adults smiling and waving at them as they entered the establishment, Setsuna's mother shared her daughter's sharp teeth but her father had the matching green hair that was tied back. "Heya Kendo! Good to see you." Set's father greeted.
Given that it was a celebration, Itska decided to dress up for the occasion, a white turtleneck shirt tucked into a pair of dark blue jeans which had a brown belt securing it around her waist. Yui had gone with a button up shirt that was blue and a black skirt with matching stockings, "Hey Mr. Hebi, Mrs. Tenbi, it's nice to see you too." she greeted Yui, nodding in greeting.
"Ssso nice to see you again, it'sss been too long dear." Setsuna's mother hissed out, her forked tongue causing her to drag on the 's's that she spoke slightly. She pointed over to the back of the restaurant where at a booth, Setsuna and Sera were sitting, waving over at them with the younger sister smiling excitedly. "The table isss for you guyssss, we'll be here. Order whatever you want, tonight is on ussss." Tenbi said with a proud smile.
As Kendo was about to thank them for their generosity, a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her from behind and gave her a squeeze, "Hey, hey look who it is! Kendo! And Yui!" Itsuka laughed as she reached up and hugged the arms around her neck before turning around to the surprise guest.
"Nejire! I didn't know you were coming!" She greeted her blue haired friend. The other girl was two years her senior, with an ovular face, wide curious eyes and long, fluffy blue hair that went down to the back of her knees with a twirl on the end. Nejire Hado was one of their trio's oldest friends, she would be beginning her third and final year at U.A. this next spring and soon become a pro hero after.
Unwrapping her arms from Itsuka, the bubbly senpai glomped onto Yui with equal measure, the stoic girl humming as she returned it with not as much enthusiasm but just as much happiness. "I haven't seen you three in forever, how's school? Did Mimi ever go with that haircut she was talking about? I asked Setsuna but she didn't know what I was talking about. Maybe I'm confused? There's also someone called Parsley, but isn't that kind of strange to name someone after food?" she asked in rapid succession.
Itsuka snorted with a friendly smile, Nejire was…..excitable. But they all loved that about her. "Let's sit down before we get to catching up."
With a nod, Nejire, Yui and Itsuka nodded before heading over to the table where the younger of the Togake children slid out of her seat and rushed over to give each of them a big hug. Setsuna meanwhile grinned and spread her arms out wide, "Behold! The champion of the day and the first of us to get into U.A. on recommendations. I'm now your superior and I expect to be treated as such." she greeted in a magnanimous manner.
Yui reached down and covered Sera's ears for the next part, "Bitch I love you but you're not my superior. Congrats though." she said before uncovering the child's ears and sliding into the booth. Kendo rolled her eyes but did the same on the other side, leaning over and giving her friend a hug while Sera climbed over into Yui's lap, "Hello my little dino, how are you?" The stoic girl greeted the child.
"I'm good Yui! Set's being a butt head though."she accused with a pout, "She wanted icky sushi tonight." she said with a grossed out face.
Set reached over and patted her little sister on the head, "You'll be fine squirt. We'll get you some chicken and rice." she said. "But seriously you should try some! It's good."
"Ew! No, it's made of fish. Fish are gross." she said with a shutter, thinking back to seeing all the dead fish in ice at the market for the first time.
Itsuka chuckled, "It's really good Sera, I vouch for it." she endorsed as well. Sera still wasn't convinced but Kendo knew well enough when not to push something on the little girl, instead she turned to her friend. "So how was it?" she asked.
Nejire leaned over the table excitedly, "Yeah I wanna know too! I only got in through the regular ol' entrance exam!" She said with wide eyes of interest.
Setsuna looked at her and let out a breath, "I'm not gonna lie, I don't know HOW I got in. Some of the people there had insane quirks! And I can just detach parts of myself." she sheepishly admitted. "One guy was able to swim through the ground after making it into mud, this other guy could control the wind, another girl could just…create stuff at will out of herself, and then to top it all off this one guy was able to make a freaking glacier!"
Nejire tilted fee read to the side, "If he can swim through the ground, is it really considered swimming?"" She asked, though it was more to herself than anything else.
Kendo swallowed at the description of the quirks, those all sounded insanely strong. But then again there was a reason why it was the recommended course, it wasn't just about knowing someone it was about having actual prospects as a pro hero. "Were any of them cute?" Yui asked.
Set snorted at the unexpected question, "Sorry hon I was more focused on getting in than how hot the people there were." she said mirthfully.
Then she thought about it, "...actually you know what? Creative girl was super stacked. And the ice guy was a pretty boy." she decided.
Kendo rolled her eyes while Yui nodded in thanks, Sera meanwhile gagged, "Gross."
"Agreed Sera." Kendo said with a certain look to her friend.
Set smirked as she opened her mouth, before she could speak her eyes snapped to the door as she saw a familiar mop of green hair enter the restaurant. "Oh hey Parsley's here." she said before raising her hand and waving for his attention.
Kendo turned with a smile, and felt her tongue nearly get swallowed.
Izuku had decided to dress up nicely for dinner at a restaurant, wearing a green long sleeve shirt with the sleeves slightly rolled up with a pair of black pants and his usual red shoes. Seeing the table that was waving at him, he offered a shy smile and weakly waved back.
Fuck. Kendo thought as he noticed her parents enter behind him and walked him over to Setsuna's parents to introduce him. No. Stop, don't be weird. You've seen him since that weird dream. It's no big deal, he just hasn't dressed up since then, that's all. She thought, trying to reassure herself that there was nothing out of place. As Izuku turned and greeted Set's parents and got a side profile she couldn't help but gauge his physique.
Damn it, how does someone hide those arms? She thought to herself as her face warmed a little. Setsuna noticed her friend's reaction and smirked to herself. She and Yui had come to a conclusion after watching Itsuka and Izuku's…training was one word, violent flirting was another.
Glancing over at Yui, the stoic girl gave a subtle smirk and nodded. "Parsley! Get over here man!" She called out. Izuku jumped a little but quickly made his way over to them while Setsuna's parents waved him goodbye. Kendo shook her head, she needed to relax, it was just a nice night out with friends to celebrate Setsuna getting into U.A.
"Oh he's a cutie!" Nejire noticed right away..