10 AM

 

Izuku stared at the dull red of the alarm clock for a long time. He had been staring at it since it had first turned to nine an hour ago. But it didn’t feel like an hour. He should get up. The hotel he was staying at required people to be out by noon. Not that he had anything to pack. With a dull groan, Izuku sat up in the bed and then immediately flopped down to press his head into his pillow. 

 

Everything hurt. 

 

He was so tired. 

 

He hadn’t slept at all last night. He had showered twice, trying to get rid of the itchy uncomfortableness that spread over his entire body, and when that proved fruitless he spent the rest of the night alternating between crying, screaming into his pillow, turning, and just fuming over what had just happened. 

 

This was all her fault.

 

If she hadn’t broken her promise, none of this would have happened. 

 

But this was fine too. 

 

He didn’t need her anymore. It wasn’t like she supported his dreams. She only offered support for her dreams. Join a sports club? That’ll help him in college! Join a gym? Fit students had better job aspects. Get a tattoo so he could become a hero? Lies and broken promises. 

 

Anger spiked and Izuku pushed himself off the mattress. 

 

He couldn’t lay in bed all day. There were things he needed to do.

 

There was no point going to high school. Finals were over, and he was already accepted into Tokyo U.  It wasn’t like he had any clubs or friends to really make going back appealing. Besides, if his mother was looking for him, that’d be the second place to look. It was why he didn’t bother going to Katsuki’s place. Their parents were better friends than he and Katsuki were, so Mitsuki would probably just snitch on him. 

 

Standing up, Izuku grabbed his clothes and glared out of the hotel room window as he got dressed. 

 

He needed to find a place to stay, something more permanent than a hotel room. But the problem with that was that he was seventeen, and he’d need to have someone financially back him. Normally that’d be a parent or proof of employment. Maybe he could talk to the university into not only giving him a dorm late but also letting him move in early.

 

Money shouldn’t be too hard of a problem. He could, in theory, just go to that fight club again and earn some cash using his quirk. But that was illegal, wasn’t it? Betting on fights, or quirk-based fights in general. There was a reason it was hidden under a warehouse. Besides, would he even be let in without Ori or Tanaka? Ita might let him in. 

 

Actually, he seemed to be a pretty popular contender last night, so he might be able to just walk in if he somehow introduced them to Raijin first. 

 

Izuku sighed and looked at his bare chest for a few seconds. Raijin was currently asleep on his back. At least one of them got some rest. “If I had had you a few weeks ago, things would be so much different.”

 

The fight with the robot last night had proved that. It had sealed the fact that he could have been a hero if only he had been given a chance to use his quirk's full potential. If his mother hadn’t destroyed his chances, he’d be going to U.A. and he wouldn’t have gone to that underground fight club! Hell, they wouldn’t be fighting!

 

He rested his forehead against the still cool glass and let out a long sigh before putting on his shirt. It still smelled new from last night, but he’d need more than a single shirt and a pair of pants if he was going to live on his own. 

 

His stomach let out a low growl and reminded him of the growing sense of hunger he had been feeling since last night. 

 

“Alright,” He finished getting dressed and examined the room one last time. “Food, a place to sleep, and figure out how to earn some cash.”

 

Again, his mind drifted back to that underground fight club. It wasn’t just that it was easy, there was a bit of exhilaration that brought him back to that spot every time he thought about needing cash. He had been so powerless throughout his entire life that now that he could put up a fight, he wanted more. 

 

Was that why he wanted to be a hero?

 

Izuku shook his head and slapped his cheeks. “Right, now’s not the time to think about this, let’s see where—”

 

He reached into his pocket for his phone. It wasn’t there.

 

Where was it? Other pocket? Did he leave it on the nightstand? Where…

 

Oh.

 

He threw his phone into the river last night.

 

He still wasn’t sure if that was smart or stupid.

 

Could he even get a new phone without his mother knowing?

 

Maybe from a different company.

 

With one last look back, he left his hotel room and headed out into greater Tokyo.

 

There was a lot he needed to do today and less time to do it. But first, food. 

 

XXXX

 

Izuku half stumbled into the first ramen shop he found and promptly ordered the largest bowl he could. Part of him was concerned about his now very limited budget, but his stomach was currently trying to eat that part. The bowl was served and Izuku took a few giant bites of the toppings before slurping up the noodles. 

 

“Yo, Izuku!” a slightly jovial voice brought a hungry Izuku out of his bowl just long enough to see a short orange-haired guy in a suit. He looked familiar. Wait. Wasn’t this that gate guard for the Yakuza? “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

 

Izuku blinked and finished his bite. “Why?” He blinked again. “And how did you find me in the middle of Tokyo? There’s like millions of people here.”

 

“True, but,” The orange-haired man took a seat next to him without even asking and ordered a bowl. “We have our ways.”

 

“Okay,” Izuku turned his attention back to his bowl of ramen. “Who are you again?”

 

“What? You don’t remember? I’m Sho! The guy that let you and Tanaka in!”

 

“I remember that part, I just forgot your name, sorry.” Izuku gave Sho another look and wondered how exactly this guy was a Yakuza member, he wasn’t as scary as Tanaka or Ita. He just seemed like some friendly young guy. 

 

“Well, I remembered yours, Izuku Midoriya.” There it was that emphasis on his last name again. “And as for why I spent all night looking for you, only to bump into you as you were heading in for ramen, well, the answer is simple. Granny wants to meet you.”

 

“Granny?” Izuku blinked. He heard that name before. “Is she the boss or something?”

 

Sho gave a small nod, and his cool confident smile was smug as all hell. “She didn’t tell me why, but she’s eager to meet you. And I think I can guess why.”

 

“Why?” 

 

“Curiosity is one hell of a bait. I think if you want to find out, you’ll have to come with me.” Sho’s attention was instantly stolen by the bowl of ramen that was placed before him. “After we eat of course! Don’t worry Mr. Heavyweight champion, I’ll sponsor your bowl too.”

 

By the time Sho had finished his first bowl, Izuku had finished his second.

 

XXXX

 

Once again after a fight with his mother, Izuku found himself entering the Yakuza compound tucked into the heart of the Amagi district. Butterflies filled his stomach as he followed Sho, a few members he never met looking at him with curiosity and a bit of malice in their eyes. Was he in trouble because he won against the mech? That was Ori’s idea! Was she in trouble? Wasn’t she important? It kind of felt like she could just do whatever the hell she wanted!

 

The worst part was that even if he did get in trouble because of her, he’d have to forgive her to get another tattoo. Dammit. 

 

Why the hell was he here? 

 

“So you’re still not going to tell me why I’m here?” Izuku asked as he glanced around the courtyard. He could see the path that would lead him to the koi ponds and Ori and Tanaka’s house. There were a few other paths between the buildings that likely led to somewhere else into the compound, but the main building was positioned in front of him. Izuku watched as Sho took the first few steps onto the wooden pathway that enclosed the courtyard. 

 

“Nope! That’d ruin the surprise!” Sho plopped off his shoes and held them up for Izuku to see. “Shoes off, head down, and be respectful, you’re meeting a Yakuza leader after all.”

 

Right. Something that was perfectly normal for a seventeen-year-old future Tokyo U. student to do.

 

Just having a casual meeting with a Yakuza leader.

 

The room was traditional in every sense of the word. A large empty tatami mat floor was surrounded on all sides by walls displaying the group's history, from ornate samurai swords to old photos and water-painted wall scrolls that looked beyond beautiful. There was an unspoken significance of this long room, and nothing seemed more significant than the raised platform at the end with a few sitting cushions placed in front of a large wooden circle with a phoenix burned into the middle. 

 

Was that this group's symbol? Did Yakuza have symbols?

 

Why didn’t he research more about them after being involved with them?

 

Oh right, he threw his phone into the river last night. 

 

A crowd had gathered around him. Izuku recognized some of the faces; Ita and Tanaka hovered around the sides, leaving him in a sea of Yakuza. No one dared approach him for whatever reason. Was he going to die? If that was the case, he wished they’d just get this over with. 

 

“What’s—” He heard Ori’s voice and looked behind to catch her peeking into the room for a moment. Her long silver hair was tied into a ponytail that was kept in place by a baseball cap that had slots for her horns. Both she and her denim overalls were covered in paint. She looked at him and tilted her head to the side again. “Izuku?” She took a few steps towards him, her sandals effortlessly flying off behind her. She kneeled down beside him and examined the room. “What’s going on?”

 

“I have no idea.”

 

“Oh, what’d you do?”

 

“Well, last night you took me to a fight club and then I won, and then my mom kicked me out last night and I threw my phone in a river.”

 

“How’d your mom find out?”

 

“Someone sent her a video.”

 

“That’s weird, but that doesn’t explain why you’re—”

 

An older man stepped in front of them. His kimono was nearly black, and his grey hair still had enough black in it to make his hair look like salt and pepper. His face was firm, dignified, and cleanly shaven, though his skin was a fair bit darker than what Izuku was used to seeing in Japan. The man squatted down in front of Izuku and examined him carefully. After a moment, he smacked his lips. “I’m not impressed.” 

 

Eh?

 

Huh?

 

Was he supposed to be impressive?

 

A few snickers came from the other Yakuza members and Izuku couldn’t help but feel this was just some elaborate prank. 

 

“Wakan,” Ori gave a light giggle. “That’s mean. Besides, you haven’t seen Raijin yet.”

 

Wakan shrugged and pressed a finger into Izuku’s chest. “You—”

 

“Wakan!” A clap drew everyone’s attention away from Izuku and Wakan and towards an elderly woman. “Get out of the way, and stop glaring at everyone, you’re giving us a bad name. And speak in whole sentences while you’re here. We know you’re not a foreigner. And Ori, stop being so clingy and let me have a look at him without your dorky face in the frame.”

 

“Yes, Granny!” Ori spun away and stood barefoot next to her brother and Ita. She looked more out of place than he did. 

 

An elderly woman smiled down at Izuku. Her black and white kimono made the bright red flowers on it stand out like they were floating. She held herself with the kind of supreme confidence that Izuku would expect the leader of a nation to hold. Her kind face was wrinkled slightly, but still held a youthful playfulness that helped hide the strength of her smile that lacked the usual fragility of someone her age. Her hair was a fluffy black that was pulled back into a ponytail with only a sliver of white on the side.

 

She reminded him of a lone tree defiantly growing on a seaside cliff as though it enjoyed being whacked by salt and winds.

 

“My,” she said in a soft tone, head tilting to the side. “How you’ve grown. Though I can’t say your father did you any favors giving you my unruly hair, honestly I’m nearly into my sixties and it still won’t behave. Though, you did get his eyes at least.”

 

Izuku felt his mouth drop as he stared up at this woman. This oh-so-familiar woman. He’d seen her before.

 

“Well?” She asked in a playful tone holding her arms out wide. “Are you going to make an old woman kneel down or are you going to give your grandmother a proper hug Izuku?”

 

Memory surged forth of a time when he was barely old enough to talk. He remembered holding onto this woman’s kimono as he stared out at a storming night, wondering when his dad was going to come home.

 

A tear escaped him as he hugged her tight. Her smaller frame was too stubborn to even budge under his weight as she wrapped her arms around him.

 

“I’ve wanted to see you again for so long.” His grandmother whispered softly. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

 

“Wait!” Ori shouted and bounced over to them; she looked around the room her mouth opened like she was a little stupid. “Are you two actually related?” 

 

“My name is Hanabi Midoriya because I chose it Ori, now get!” Grandma Hanabi waved her hand and gestured towards the rest of the members too. “The rest of you best have something more important to do than to interrupt my family time!” 

 

As a group, the rest of the Yakuza slowly began to filter out of the room until only Ori and Tanka were left. 

 

“Holy shit!” Tanaka groaned and slapped his forehead. “I’m an idiot.”

 

“Yes you are, but we can talk about you not telling me Izuku’s last name right nowish!” Ori grabbed her brother’s arm and dragged him out of the room as well. 

 

“Well,” Hanabi gave a light chuckle, her eyes looking a bit misty. “I’m sure we have a lot to catch up on Izuku, why don’t we go for a walk?”