Chapter Text
Popping his knuckles with his thumb, Shouta sighed. It was currently eleven at night, the start of his shift and he was already holding a cup of coffee.
It was a quiet night so far. Nothing out of the ordinary. But of course Shouta is one of the few people who know that things can just pop up at random, even in the most peaceful of times.
The man sipped from his coffee while overlooking the city. As much as he would have liked to sit down and drink, he trusted his gut not to lower his guard. It had saved him on more than one occasion. Snow licked the top of the roof, his footprints light in his tracks.
Maybe if he was lucky, the night would be completely calm. Save for the lost children and early drinkers. They're the most common on night patrols.
Both of his ears perked up at the sound of quiet chattering and he set down his cup. He cursed under his breath when he took a step, looking down to the crunch of the snow as he placed his foot down.
The voices came into focus as he crouched in the shadows over the alley.
"Hey," Someone called. "You Asagi?" It was a pair of men, one gruff and bulked while the other looked was more lean and tall.
"Yeah, that's me. I got the bullets if you got the money," A man with a bird mask answered as he came into the alley from the street. He looked like Yakuza.
"We got two hundred thousand yen. That should be enough," The business man smiled. "Just so we're clear, the bullets do work, correct? Are they permanent?"
"No. Boss is working on the permanent batch now, but due to limited equipment we only have the temporary batch right now," Asagi explained as he slowly pulled a case from his pocket. Shouta pursed his lips as he watched, his gut rolling uneasily.
"How long will it take the permanent batch to be on the market?"
"I'm not sure, but Boss said that it'll probably be soon," Asagi held the case up, looking around them for eavesdroppers. He didn't think to look up.
"Will they be out in a month?" The lean man asked. Shouta watched the Yakuza member agitate a little.
"Come on already, what's with all the questions? Overhaul's given you the details he knows! I'm just the salesman, not some informant. Are you going to buy the case or not? It's four hundred thousand yen." He tapped his foot impatiently.
"Wait, that's not what we agreed on!" The man objected.
"That's always been the price," Asagi said. "And what you have isn't enough."
The bulky man growled. "We don't have that kind of money for the bullets."
"Overhaul gave you the price a while ago. You said you had the money." Shouta didn't know what those bullets were, but something told him that it wasn't good at all.
"Four hundred thousand yen for six bullets? We don't have that kind of money just laying around. Do you think we're stupid?"
"Of course not! I think you're the dumbest person I've met." The man sighed.
"Overhaul warned us of this little quirk of yours with speaking. If we weren't buying from that man, I'd have beat the ever-loving shit out of you."
"I'm just trying to earn some money," Asagi put both hands up. "Most of us don't have a lot and are struggling to put food on the table. I just hop around organizations, help them out a bit, and leave. I'm not even Yakuza."
"Whatever," The man shoved his hand into his pocket, searching for a leather wallet with the yen needed for the bullets. "You said these are only prototypes, right? That means that the bullets will only remove someone's Quirk temporarily, right?" Shouta perked up.
"Yup!" Asagi spoke with an invisible grin. "Like I said, Overhaul's been working on getting them to be permanent. Once they are, the price is going to shoot up. So if you want to get the final product, you'd better start saving up now!" He chirped.
"Whatever," He pulled out the four hundred thousand yen and handed it over. Before the transaction could continue, Shouta hopped down from the roof and used his binding cloth to wrap around the wrists of the buyer reaching out. Yanking his arms behind him, he slapped Quirk suppressing cuffs on his wrists. The seller jumped back.
"A hero?! Come on, I'm just trying to make a living, okay? I've been left hungry the past few days, can you please just give me a break?" Shouta turned his head to the man talking, and though neither could see well in the dark, the man could tell that the hero was glaring at him.
"Oi! Help us here!" The buyer standing shouted. "Do something you damn moron!" Shouta pulled out a pair of Quirk suppressing cuffs and restrained the hands of the more lean buyer. Standing back up, he bent his knees, ready for whoever was to attack next. He could see now that the buyers were in tailored suits.
As the pro hero looked at the seller as figure walked into the alley next to him, though it was hard to see in the dark. It seemed to be a tall man, though shorter than Shouta himself, with a green hooded jacket, pants that fell short above his ankles, and gloves, but the most noticeable thing was the red and gold rimmed plague mask.
He didn't get the question it much more as the larger buyer came charging. The man threw a barrage of punches, seeming to get stronger with each one. Shouta ducked out of the way of a blow aimed for his chest and watched the man's fist connect with the wall behind him, and the brick cracked like a spider web.
Shouta blinked and opened his eyes, sending a Quirk filled gaze to the man in front of him, and sent his own attacks. Now on defense, the buyer grunted as Shouta's fist hit him jaw.
He grabbed the man's arms and, just like his partner, cuffed the man's wrists behind his back.
Turing his attention back to the fake Yakuza, he watched as the man tried to use his Quirk, only to look down when nothing happened. Growling, he charged at Shouta, fists raised.
He was more skilled in hand to hand than the other guy, going for his neck and gut, never being too predictable.
To the man's credit, he got a few hits of Shouta and he grunted with the pain as the fist connected with his stomach, but he kept his eyes open. Asagi sent another punch aimed at his jaw and Shouta backed away before it could land.
With the space between them, the man tried to use his Quirk again. "What did you do to my Quirk!?" He shouted. "You didn't even shoot me!"
Shouta didn't answer, instead gripping at his capture weapon and glaring at him. His body tensed when the man as he reached quickly into his pocket and pulled a revolver out, aiming it at Shouta.
A singular bullet shot off, though the hero used his scarf as a decoy as he ducked, leaving the quirk removing bullet stuck in the wall behind him.
"Damnit, I missed!" Asagi growled. The man went to cock the gun again and Shouta ran up to him, throwing calculated punches. The man ducked down. "I still can't use my quirk! What'd you do?! It's like the bullet but you haven't hit me!" Shouta wrapped the capture weapon around the man, throwing him to the ground. He kneeled on his arms that rested on his back. The gun slid across the ground and banged against a wall.
Quirk suppressing cuffs were slapped onto Asagi's wrists and Shouta held the man down by the back of his neck.
"Where are these bullets being made?" Shouta questioned harshly.
"Do you think I'd tell you?" The man sighed.
"How is it made? Who is Overhaul?"
"Well, I can't tell you that, now can I?" Asagi laughed. Shouta tightened his grip on the downed man's neck. "Ack! You're choking me!"
"That's the point," He grumbled. "Tell me what you know about the bullets."
"If we're being honest here, I don't know much." The man wiggled around, trying to escape. "How the hell'd you stop my quirk?!" Shouta sighed. "Ooooh, my savior's here!" Shouta jerked his head up at the end of the sentence. Shit, he let his guard down. He completely forgot they weren't alone.
"You've been using your Quirk for a while, Eraserhead," Shouta's brow furrowed at the identification, eyeing the man warily. Now that he was getting a better look, he looked like Yakuza. Shie Hassaikai. "What are you're going to do? If you blink then I could use my Quirk. But if you don't then your eyes will dry out. So nothing, correct? You won't be getting out of here."
He didn't like the finality in the man's voice. The way he sounded so confident and sure. As if it was a fact and not an opinion.
"And why do you say that," Shouta drawled as he stood up slowly, leaving Asagi on the ground. He gripped his capture weapon tighter, ready to shoot it out at a moments notice.
"Because right now you're cornered." From behind, another masked man shot out something silver, causing Shouta to jump back, twirling around to see his offender.
"Hey!" Asagi shouted. "Why'd you shoot at me?!"
"Shut it." The main man with the mask hissed. Shouta blinked during the process and looked around for an opening. None of the three people were looking back at him, actually, the downed man was but he had been immobilized. Grumbling under his breath, he dodged the silver object as it came at him again, which turned out to be hair when he touched it.
His body suddenly slowed down as he was unable to avoid the large spikes shooting toward him. Pain jousted through in shoulder as a spike hit him. Blood seeped out of the wound and he held a sluggish hand to stop the flow.
"I thought you had to stab them for their bodies to be slowed." The leader walked closer to Shouta and he struggled not to stumble as he turned to face him.
"I've been working on it with some of those thugs and Izuku."
"Don't touch him," The man sighed. "I don't need him to be tainted. Just fuck around with the thugs or anyone else, but not the kid."
"Of course, Overhaul."
The man, Overhaul, strutted his way over to Shouta. So this was the man making Quirk suppressing bullets. He had to get out of there, call for backup, and warn the other heroes about this.
He took a step to fight, only for his legs to buckle under him. The ground grated at his shoulder and he closed his eyes tightly at the pain.
"Disgusting," Overhaul commented, placing a hand on the spike. In seconds, it disintegrated into nothing but pebbles. Blood coated his fingers and he scowled. "You two will carry him to the base. Who knows, maybe the new company will be good for Izuku."
"Hey, what about me?!" Shouta heard Asagi's voice muffled in the background. He opened his eyes, face still pressed against the concrete, and glared up at the man standing over him.
"Do it of yourself." The Overhaul grumbled.
"You know I can't."
Overhaul sighed, placing a hand on Shouta's body. In seconds, an explosion of blood filled the area of the man's form. Mere moments later, he had returned to life, spotless, but unconscious. "That's fucked."
"Quiet," The man known as Chronostasis commanded. "Overhaul has been looking for Eraserhead for a while now. You'll be getting a small bonus for helping us capture him."
"Let's go!" The masked man grinned as Mimic manipulated the cuffs around his wrists and enlarged them, making it easy for Asagi to slip out.
"Help us get him there first," Mimic grumbled, separating from the cuffs.
"Of course, of course."