Chapter 46:
Recap:
In his 45 years, Knuckleduster, or Iwao Oguro, had dealt with many people. Some similar to Dante have appeared. People who were confused and closed themselves off to the world.

He knew a thing or two that could help them, but he wasn’t focused so  much in the restoration and recuperation of people. 

"Do you remember the specifics of our contract?"

*Flashback Mini*

"I will provide you with information on the villains' locations and pass along some rough estimates for their numbers. Depending on the case, either you, or both of us, go and take them down with little casualties, and I handle the rest while you get information. 

In exchange, you will stay with Pop and Koichi over there and protect them while they go off and do their own things. This means that when they're doing vigilante things, you should stay around them.

If any law enforcement or hero’s show up that want to get to them, you’ll stall for time and wait for me to come. "

*Flashback End*

 Knuckleduster smiled to himself. He had solved 3 birds with one stone. ‘

Protect their safety while not restricting them, help this kid out with his people issues by putting him around those two who can hopefully deal with that cloud of misery that hangs around his head, and give him more time to focus on "that" problem.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

*Underground*

Inside this dark room where no sunlight crept through the sound of incessant breathing could be heard.

*Deep Breath*

A bald headed man, with no eyes, and conneted to a life support system was the source of this noise. 

He was accustomed to the constant noise of his breath, and he often let his mind wander when he inevitably got boord.

All Might his foe, he thought about how in the future he would be on the floor, his two blond strands of hair burned and kneeling struggling and failing to get up.

While he, sitting on a throne high above, merely watched. ‘Oh. how such a day was sooner than ever’ he thought. As he was lost in his mind a sudden opening of the door reverberated throughout the room. 

An old man also bald, with glasses that completely covered his eyes and a mustache that stretched across his entire face, walked in.

“Master.”

He said kneeling down, the person who looked like he was about to die in mere moments a minute ago didn’t respond, or even move his head.

But Kyudai knew he was heard. Ever since they found that new subject, his master's has been getting better than ever. With both quirks dealing in life force, he could even temporarily perform combat action. 

And instead of searching outside, he took time to let his body rest for the upcoming battle. Trying not to delay him, Kyudai started.

“That boy you requested us to keep watch on, he’s been spotted last night near where the “playground” is.” 

Kyudai was impressed, apparently one of their entire bases got destroyed with only this encrypted message getting sent at the cost of some minions life.

For the first time in a long time the man hooked up on life support cracked a smile. Although he had a great nemesis, this boy would ultimately become the key to his success. With the amount of time he’s waited, this man, he would let nothing get in his way.

He finally spoke to his servant and colleague of many years. Although he’s long since lost count, he’s sure that they’ve been together for over 80 years. However to him Kyduai is merely someone with expert knowledge on quirks who isn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty.

“Send the instructions to start on the next level, to our factory near him. And be sure to record the results.”

Kyudai was elated that their plan, that they previously devised, was being put into action. With such a high level of emotion he spoke more confidently about his next topic.

“And the other thing, a few cities over we’ve found a possible test subject which could be used as a experimentation. The best part is the young man is willing to come over at any moment. He’s one of those who risk everything,  and have nothing.”

“Proceed with the plan.”

Although his reaction is not as enthusiastic as before, It was to be expected since this is merely an experiment to him. Whether this test subject dies and another comes in his place or whether this one succeeds the results matter not for the difference.

Kyduai retreated from the dark room to complete his newly given task, while the doors made an audible creek before shutting for the room to collect dust once again.

*Timeskip 1 Day*

Dante woke up within a trash can, with a pounding head, thirsty mouth and rumbling stomach. He remembered what happened in the morning, but most importantly what  happened at night.

Some huge, dinosaur-like creature suddenly grew when they reached the warehouse, the growth of this creature destroyed the place, with all the important documents, and suspects of high value being lost in the process.

The worst part was the monsters scream, even when they didn’t land an attack and were just running around. That thing screeched as loud as a gong. And Dante being the damage dealer of the two was the first to hear about the noise.

Dante felt his stomach and stretched out his empty pockets. He planned to head to Koichi’s house to borrow some food.

*Hop*

As he started walking the smell that made him gag wasn’t disappearing rather it was following. He checked his shoes but that wasn’t the problem.

The jacket he wore which he slept on for the night had mildew and other residue from the trash stuck to it.

*Koichi House*

He reached there at the same time as Kazuho was opening the door knob.

“Oh, Dante, you disappeared yesterday?”

Dante scratched his head, what could he say.

‘Oh yeah, I just remembered scenes of when I accidentally killed a single mother and her child and due to trauma and ptsd I had to leave the apartment and go and kill some more villains to take my mind off it.’

Of course not.

“We-we’ll..umm-”

Kazuho didn’t want to listen to whatever poor excuse he was trying to concoct, especially since it's 9am in the morning.

*Sniff*

After turning around and opening the door she smelled a whiff of Koishi’s house. Trash that was bagged but needed to be taken out lined the hallway, and the sink was loaded full of dishes.

However that wasn’t what she smelled. Turning around she tried to smell Dante but he evaded her and left off to be unbothered.

“Koichi you want some help…with the disheses….Alright.”

Dante grabbed a sponge and proceeded to clean up the dishes. He tuned out the world and sung himself a toon, but a certain word caught his attention.

“Mom’s coming to tokyo! She’s already on the train!”

Dante sped up 20 times faster. If there's anything more troublesome than talking to people, it's talking to adults.