Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The time of day was morning, when the streets were slowly being filled with people going to work. Most stores had already opened an hour or two ago, and are waiting for customers to slowly trickle in. Undoubtedly, the most successful ones in this period were the restaurants serving breakfast and such.

This little store was also a restaurant open to any customers that would like to have their fill, yet it was void of people, save for a slim and fair-skinned young man that had a head of well-groomed black hair.

Bu Fang, the owner of the establishment stepped out of the store. He held a porcelain bowl of fragrant and still steaming Egg-Fried Rice.

“Blacky, it’s time to eat.” He said, placing the bowl in front of a resting black dog. Its eyebrows shot open and the dog stood up to eat with previously unseen energy.

After patting its head a few times, Bu Fang walked back inside the restaurant.

The man’s age was twenty, and he was an ordinary but ambitious chef from China in a parallel Earth in its 21st century. Apparently, he had passed away due to reasons even he himself didn’t know and ended up in this world which was just Earth but upgraded… or maybe degraded, depending on how one sees it.

Bu Fang had his ‘system’ to thank for being able to continue his story as a chef. He didn’t know why he was chosen but he had stopped caring after a short while. As long as the system could provide ingredients and even twist reality a little bit for him, he wouldn’t question it.

And truly, there wasn’t much of a reason why the system chose him. It didn’t have an ulterior motive. All it knew was that Bu Fang was anything but ordinary.

With the help of the system, he established his business in a shady alleyway in Musutafu, Japan. He also didn’t question why he was brought to Japan of all places instead of China after the system gave him the ability to speak Japanese fluently.

It had already been two weeks since the restaurant’s existence and he had not a single customer despite the city’s population. Not even the stereotypical shady individuals stepped foot in the alley!

At this point, Bu Fang was used to it. He followed the system’s instructions to practice his cooking and feed the black dog everyday.

He didn’t know where it came from, but since the system told him to feed it, he complied.

He looked at the menu with a hint of annoyance on his normally aloof expression.

The pricing of the items… were too high!

Even after having a taste of the dishes with the system-provided ingredients, Bu Fang still believed the cost should be lower. They definitely tasted good, but was it worth it…? Unfortunately, the system also provided the prices and he couldn’t change it.

He had asked how such ordinary ingredients were able to taste like it came from a five-star restaurant and was given a surprising answer.

“The ingredients were enhanced by quirks, some directly and some indirectly. For example, the eggs were laid by chickens that had the same quality-boosting quirk which affected the eggs.” The system droned in his head.

Bu Fang’s abnormally high skill in cooking was left unsaid.

Currently, the menu only had three dishes which could be considered some of the staple foods of China.

Egg-Fried Rice, Stir-Fried Vegetables and Dry-Mixed Noodles.

He wasn’t sure of Japanese people’s tastes but since Japan is part of Asia, it shouldn’t be too different, right?

Walking into the kitchen, he eyed the familiar equipment he was used to working with in his past life. Most of them were just normal, 21st century culinary appliances with a few exceptions that matched with this world’s technology.

There was also a humanoid robot in the corner of the kitchen. It was made by the system to act when there was trouble in the store. It also played the role of a disposal for the uneaten food made when practicing. It had a stomach which probably had a portal that connected to another world.

Eventually, after hours of practice, night descended and the restaurant was closed for the day. Blacky was left outside like always, but it didn’t mind. It simply slept away all of its problems.

Bu Fang woke up early the next morning and got ready for the day. It didn’t take long before he had showered and changed and he began to cook a portion of Egg-Fried Rice. Conveniently, he lived right above the store and did not need to walk far to open up for business.

He stepped outside with the dish in his hand and repeated the process of feeding the black dog and patting it before going back inside.

“Another day without a customer…” He said to himself. “Maybe I should just go out there and enjoy myself a bit.”

“If host is not able to serve one customer by the end of the week, host’s soul will pass on.” System’s voice sounded inside his head. He damn near tripped over himself.

What the heck!

“It was just a joke…” Bu Fang said, eye twitching but System did not retract its statement. He let out a long sigh of resignation.

Hey, System, isn’t this your fault for choosing this location and not even allowing me to put on a signboard?

“If it’s like that, then fine.” He grumbled and proceeded to practice in the kitchen. If there was not one customer in the next three days, he’d die. Simple as that.

Afternoon began a few hours ago and Bu Fang was currently sitting comfortably on a chair he had moved to right outside the restaurant. There was a commotion a distance away from where he sat, loud noises echoing in the alleyway.

A hero fight, then.

Bu Fang was already somewhat familiar with the terms ‘Pro-Hero’ and ‘Villain’, and him, a civilian, was not allowed to use his quirk unless it was inside his own property or in a life-and-death situation.

Well, it wasn’t much of a problem for him since System registered him as quirkless. Of course, that doesn’t mean he did not possess inhuman abilities himself.

He heard soft footsteps coming closer and his eyes landed on some middle-school kid who was muttering a storm, face close to his notebook and walking towards the commotion.

The boy had a head of messy green hair and a cute face with a few noticeable freckles. He almost couldn’t spot the burn marks on their uniform and the old bruises on their skin. The kid was about to pass by the store but stopped in his tracks.

Green eyes met Bu Fang’s and the kid’s gaze alternated between Bu Fang, Blacky and the other side of the alley, where the sounds of fighting would be more prominent. He had a contemplative expression on his face and he appeared to be making a tough decision.

...

Midoriya Izuku didn’t expect there to be a restaurant of some sort in this alleyway. He had heard the loud ruckus on his way home and he couldn’t help but want to check it out, so he took the fastest route there.

Honestly, Izuku would not have broken out of his mumbling if not for the sight that presented itself right there. A black-haired young man relaxing on a chair and a sleeping back dog on either sides of the entrance like lazy guards to a strangely inviting restaurant. It looked a bit suspicious, yet oddly comical.

But it was because of this strange scene he was curious about what kind of dishes were sold inside. He decided to step inside, if only to look at the menu. He was careful not to walk loudly near the dog as he entered.

The instant his body passed through the entrance, Izuku immediately realized a change in the atmosphere. He felt cozy and safe, like in the safety of his own home. The space was not large and there were only five square tables, but everything was arranged in a manner that the restaurant wouldn’t be cramped at all. There was also a large potted plant in each corner of the store for decoration. A pleasant lingering fragrance in the air that smelled like eggs and rice made its way into his nose. His stomach grumbled audibly and he flushed in embarrassment.

I didn’t even eat lunch that long ago!

He heard the young man, the owner, he assumed, walk inside and with lips curved slightly upwards, asked. “What would you like to order?”

Hearing the man ask that question with happiness in his voice, Izuku could imagine the inevitable disappointment that would hit him when he said he was not planning to eat here today. He almost caved.

“S-sorry, but I’m, uh, just checking out the menu if I uh- want to come here next time.” He managed, mentally slapping himself for sounding like an idiot.

The effect was instantaneous. Izuku had some experience in reading people’s eyes and he could clearly see the light in theirs dim as if they were going to die or something.

“I see.” The man said, voice devoid of emotion.

Shit, he’s gonna fucking cave.

“I’ll eat here tomorrow!” He made a compromise with himself. “Since… the menu items seem quite nice.”

He got a good look at the menu and-

He was absolutely floored. Stir-Fried Vegetable: 1000 yen. Dry-Mixed Noodles: 1000 yen. He looked at the item right above it and-

He wanted to spew waterfalls from his eyes right now but for some reason his body didn’t let him.

Egg-Fried Rice: 5000 yen.

Izuku felt wronged.

The man either didn’t notice his mental breakdown or ignored it because his words lightened up their disastrous expression. “Then you’d better keep your word for it, kid.”

Then they proceeded to walk into the kitchen.

Izuku walked out with a heavy sigh. Tomorrow was a weekend, so he could indeed keep his promise. He just didn’t expect to meet such an eccentric individual in such a shady place.

Oh. The prices. Oh. The prices.

He lowered his gaze just in time to see the black dog staring at him with a single open eye, too lazy to lift and turn its head.

“Eep!” He squeaked and scurried away out of the alley and back on the route home, hero fight forgotten.

Individuals. Eccentric individuals.

Chapter Text

It was a Saturday.

And Midoriya Izuku had a promise to keep. Though that didn’t stop him from despairing.

Expensive… it should be illegal to only have such expensive items in a menu for a restaurant sitting in an alley.

With 1000 yen from his own savings in his pocket, Izuku absentmindedly took a long walk to his destination.

…

Bu Fang had just about finished with his morning routine and was ready to open up for the day. He felt hopeful knowing that there would be a customer for today. Even if it was just some kid who probably had barely enough money to afford the cheapest item on the menu, this concerned life and death, dammit!

But he digresses. Bu Fang is first and foremost a chef, and should make sure to cook with all he has to prepare a dish for his customer and make sure it was worth the price.

Putting down a bowl of Egg-Fried Rice on the floor in front of Blacky, he went in the kitchen to practice. But before he could get started, footsteps sounded outside the store.

“Um… I’m here to order some food?” The same kid from yesterday said it like a question.

Izuku took a hesitant step inside the restaurant and his shoulders instantly stopped being tense. There was just something in here that could calm people down really well, almost as if it were the effects of a quirk…

And if it was a quirk, how does it work? To what extent can it calm people down? The whole store seemed to be able to produce the effect, so how much larger of an area can it cover? Can it do the opposite and send people into a panic? What about-

“What would you like to order?” Bu Fang’s voice broke Izuku out of his thoughts and he just knew he was mumbling but the former simply ignored it.

Izuku did his best to brush off the blush of embarrassment on his cheeks and began to order.

“Can I have one serving of Dry-Mixed Noodles?” He said without stuttering. Score. Izuku fumbled to the nearest chair and took a seat. Fumbled. Trying to talk to someone without screwing up the sentences one way or another was hard.

Bu Fang nodded and went inside the kitchen, leaving Izuku twiddling his thumbs in an awkward silence. Pulling up his phone from his pocket, Izuku checked for any news relating to heroes. His walk here was without hiccup, so he was itching for a little bit of action.

Bu Fang’s Dry-Mixed Noodles was actually handmade by himself with a special kneading technique and he pulled the noodles by himself. 

With practiced ease, Bu Fang kneaded the dough at an abnormally fast pace and pulled the noodles with some strength. Then he sprinkled flour on the thin noodles and soaked them in hot water that was without impurities and even had a sweet smell to it.

As the noodles were soaking, Bu Fang moved on to the seasoning. He placed a strict proportion of salt, soy sauce and monosodium glutamate into a porcelain bowl and poured a little hot water in it. Then he removed the noodles from the hot water and poured them into the bowl. Using chopsticks, he stirred the bowl which caused the color of the soy sauce to completely seep into the smooth and translucent noodles.

After nearly ten minutes into his search, Izuku’s nose caught a pleasant smell. It was so intoxicating that he unconsciously put down his phone and closed his eyes, trying to take a whiff of  more of that delicious fragrance. His mouth watered and from the back of his mind, he wondered if it might actually be worth it.

Bu Fang walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of Dry-Mixed Noodles in his hand and placed it in front of Izuku.

The sound of the bowl coming in contact with the wooden table snapped him out of his little world and his eyes immediately scanned the entirety of the dish.

At first, he was a bit disappointed and confused about how plain it looked. In the bowl was just some noodles colored by the seasoning without anything else. Then Izuku realized this was where the fragrance originated from after he took a deep breath.

How could something look so plain yet smell so good?

Izuku was already on guard from the smell because he didn’t want to get lost in it. So what about the taste? He picked up a few strands of noodles and took his first bite.

Then he only felt happiness.

It was good! Really good! He eyes widened for a brief moment before he shut them to fully savour the taste. It tasted better with every bite and so he kept eating it without a care in the world.

Watching the kid scarf down the noodles with such vigour made the corners of Bu Fang’s lips curl up in pride. Even with common recipes from the 21st century, he was able to make a relatively reserved kid lose his table manners.

When Izuku finished the bowl, he had to stop himself from licking up the sauce once he was out of his food-induced reverie. His face flushed for the second time that day and he placed the chopsticks on top of the bowl to signify that he was done eating.

Only after Izuku took the last bite did he see Bu Fang in the corner of his eyes sitting across the room giving a stiff smile at the scene. He looked a bit weird with a smile on his face.

“T-this is really good.” Said Izuku as he pushed the empty bowl away for Bu Fang to collect. The System was generous enough to provide a very efficient dishwasher.

Izuku pulled out the money to pay for the meal, just a little bitter about the cost. As nice as it had tasted, the dish didn’t seem so-

He straightened his back. His eyebrows rose. Izuku breathed.

“Wha- I feel like I could run a whole mile!” He exclaimed before devolving into a rambling mess. “This has to be under an influence of a quirk, but what are its limits? When will the energy boost diminish? Will I feel exhausted afterwards? Was the atmosphere of the room not-”

“I wouldn’t say directly.” Izuku heard Bu Fang say and he ceased his muttering. “The ingredients were the ones influenced by quirks one way or another, but the cooking process was done completely quirkless.”

Izuku was undoubtedly very curious about the ingredients, but couldn’t help perking up at the word ‘quirkless’.

“Is your quirk not suited for cooking?” He asked.

“Not exactly. I just don’t have quirk.” Bu Fang said as he stood up to collect the empty bowl.

Now that was a first for Izuku. He couldn’t remember the last time a quirkless person made such an unforgettable impression before he knew of their quirkless status. Izuku had an urge to make sure he was hearing things right. “You’re quirkless?”

Bu Fang simply nodded and went back into the kitchen.

Izuku gazed at the kitchen entrance, feeling a bit like in a dream. A restaurant hidden in the alleys that had a supply of quirk-enhanced ingredients and serve gourmet food. Dishes that have noticeable effects on one’s body, if only temporary. A young and quirkless chef as its owner.

He definitely wants to come back here regardless of the high prices.

Izuku left the restaurant, still energized and looking for a way to capitalize on that.

The little store was barren once again, but Bu Fang was inwardly rejoicing. Not just because he was spared from death but also because of System’s announcement.

“Congratulations to Host for serving the restaurant’s first customer. Reward pending…”

“Reward, huh? Well it better be worth almost dying for.”

“Reward decided. Mission for the first part of the God of Cooking set unlocked.”

Another mission?!

“Oi, System, can’t I catch a break? I was so close to dying in the previous mission.” Bu Fang said in disbelief, carving radishes from the System's endless supply to pass the time.

“This mission’s duration will be indefinite. But as the future God of Cooking, Host is recommended to complete it as fast as you can.”

Seriously?

“What’s the God of Cooking set?” Bu Fang asked curiously.

“The God of Cooking set consists of three pieces of equipment that can pave the path of becoming the God of Cooking. Each one not only possess the mystical ability to enhance the food cooked with it, but also excels in combat if needed.”

Now that’s overpowered. Who needs quirks when I could have all this cool equipment?

“Alright then, so what are the requirements for completing the mission?” He inquired. It would be nice to have something from the set, if only a piece.

“First requirement: Host must sample authentic Japanese cuisine and find flaws even the chef could not have expected.”

Now that’s a challenge. To find any errors in the food of professionals more experienced than himself.

Bu Fang twirled his knife.

But if he wants to make it to the peak, he must push himself and rise up to the challenge.

“Second requirement: Host must choose and recreate one item from their menu and its final product must be a league higher than what host had eaten. The System will only provide ordinary fresh ingredients.”

Another difficult challenge. He would be lying if he said his normal supply wasn’t a step up compared to other ingredients in terms of taste. But no matter. If one expects to work with quirk-enhanced ingredients, they must first show mastery in cooking with normal ingredients.

Bu Fang kept twirling his knife with a contemplative expression.

“The System will use that dish for the next item on the menu, but prepared with the usual supply and the System will price it.”

He tossed his knife into the air and stood up. He placed the radish sculpture on the table before snatching the knife from the air as it fell.

A new dish already, huh? Hopefully he would have more customers by then.

“Whitey, dispose of the radish.” Bu Fang ordered the robot and made his way to one of the ingredients cabinets. It was time to practice, after all.

The humanoid machine walked up to the table stiffly from its corner and gently grabbed the small sculpture. Opening its abdominal compartment to reveal nothing but the void, Whitey threw the radish into itself.

And the masterpiece that was a radish carved into a small flower connected to a life-sized hummingbird piercing its beak into the center of the flower, was disposed of.

Chapter Text

Everything went back to normalcy the next day. Which was a bit depressing when one looked at the empty restaurant. Bu Fang decided to wait for some other day to look for a place that served authentic Japanese food. He wondered if he should go for the classic sushi restaurants that also sold cooked seafood and set meals.

After feeding Blacky and practicing his knife skills for a few hours, he pulled a chair outside and lounged right outside his store, creating the same weird scene from two days ago.

A chef needs to relax every once in a while.

Breathing slowly, Bu Fang thought about his future new menu item. Sashimi would be a weird addition to a restaurant like his, so he would prefer having a cooked dish.

As a pure-blooded Chinese who was born and raised in China, his experience with Japanese cuisine was almost non-existent. There was more to the seafood than just fresh fish. The waters it was harvested from, the current season and its mating behaviors, its age and coloration, small factors that lead up to the final product.

Some dishes depend on the sauce mixture, which consist of more than just soy sauce and sesame seeds. These types of Japanese food are not simple to make, but what’s stopping Bu Fang from trying? If he has too little experience, then he’ll just go in blind and see if his own taste buds are sensitive enough to pick up on their flaws.

The rest of the day was spent lazing off with the black dog that had not moved from its resting position for days. Bu Fang was fully convinced this dog was not normal, considering the fact that Blacky did not get up to do its business even once the whole day.

It was nearing midnight, restaurant already closed and Bu Fang retiring for the night. Two shady looking men were conversing in that same alley, their hoodies covering their features.

“Hey, is that actual stuff? Not fake?” One of them asked the other, pointing at the small and unlabeled bottle in their hand.

“Oh yeah, for sure. The dealer had an actual reputation.” He replied, opening the bottle and tilting it to let a white pill land on his hand. “Trigger in pill form. He said it wouldn’t make a difference if you chew or swallow it.”

“Is it bitter though?” The first person asked with concern in his voice.

“The fuck? I got us some quirk-enhancing drugs and that’s what you’re worried about?”

“Hey man, I just can’t handle things that are too bitter. One time I gagged when I chewed on some bitter gourd.” He grimaced at the memory of the taste.

“Oh shit, good point. Bitter gourds are nasty, I don’t know how people actually enjoy eating them.” The man was lucky he was talking during midnight because if Bu Fang heard the man’s words, he would without a doubt pummel the guy to the ground with his biggest wok for insulting a perfectly good vegetable.

“Alright, give me one, like you promised.” The first guy stretched out his open palm, prompting the other man.

The latter clicked his tongue, but acquiesced. He reached out with the open bottle, about to tilt it towards the former’s hand, but some kind of white cloth wrapped onto both of their wrists.

“What the-” Both of them tried to pull back, but was met with an opposing tug that pulled their arms towards each other and upwards. More of the cloth fell around them and before it could touch the ground, the fabric was abruptly pulled taut with the two men in the middle, ensnaring their whole bodies.

A slim figure made itself known by dropping from above with the slightest tap from their boots coming in contact with the ground. The new person had dropped down a short distance away from their two targets and forcefully yanked on the cloth trapping the two men which was connected to the person’s upper body.

The sudden force sent the two off the ground and they were swung into a wall with one of them taking the brunt of the damage. That man passed out from the impact and the other sputtered in bewilderment. “A-a hero?!”

Seeing that one was out of commission, the Pro-Hero activated their quirk on the person still awake, causing their shoulder-length black hair to float upwards and their unseen eyes to glow red.

Eraserhead, in his black-outfitted and yellow-goggled glory, roundhouse kicked the man right on their temple, knocking them out before the man had a chance to counterattack.

He let his quirk deactivate and his hair rested on his head and shoulders once again. Pulling out his phone, Eraserhead sent a message briefly describing the situation attached with his location for the nearest police station to apprehend the criminals.

After he was done, he eyed the small bottle of spilled pills on the ground. If it was what he thought it was, maybe there would be a new lead in the investigation.

“Trigger, huh… how troublesome.” Eraserhead sighed, irritated. He might have been arguably the best Pro-Hero to deal with them but if the distributors were not found and dealt with, then it was just a waste of time and energy.

Raising his gaze, he caught a faint fragrance of cooked eggs and remembered the air he breathed for dinner. Simply put, he prioritized patrolling over food and Hizashi was probably going to yell into his ear for forgetting to eat the meal the man cooked for him.

Not probably. Definitely.

He unconsciously searched for the source only to make eye contact with a dog. A plump black dog that was seemingly too lazy to lift its head to properly look at him.

Eraserhead stared at it for a few moments more before glancing at his surroundings. He then said, “What, do you smell cat on me?”

It was a little strange to see a man speak to a dog that looked like a stray so casually. For him though, talking to his cats was a common occurrence at home.

The black dog’s curious eyes became a little disinterested after that question and tried to go to sleep.

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow at that. “Well aren’t you calm about seeing a loud fight so close to you.”

To his muted shock, the dog actually snorted with what felt like disdain and turned its head the other direction as to not look at Eraserhead.

“ … This is why I prefer cats.” He said under his breath and proceeded to drag the unconscious criminals out of the alley. The bottle was left on the ground for the forensic team to collect.

And the smell… was it possible a restaurant had actually opened in this shady place? If so, he needed to keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

As dawn descended upon the people of Musutafu, so did Monday and did many of them wish to stay asleep forever.

The same couldn’t be said for Bu Fang, who treated every day of the week with indifference. Each day had the potential to bring new customers, after all.

After feeding Blacky, he sat on the same spot as yesterday and began to silently doze off. With the way the two buildings were positioned, sunlight couldn’t quite reach inside the alley unless it around high noon. So every morning the temperature was just right for sleeping in and Bu Fang made use of it.

Morning passed and lunch was a few hours ago. He was practicing his temperature control in the kitchen when he heard hurried footsteps nearing the restaurant. Now that he thought about it, it was about this time of the day when he met that green-haired kid a few days back.

And speak of the devil.

Izuku practically threw himself into the store, wide eyes filled with fear. He was hyperventilating badly and looked two seconds away from a bigger panic attack. He stuck his back onto the wall not far from the entrance and desperately choked back a sob.

Bu Fang was not too surprised, but he found it a bit pitiful. Izuku’s hair had a few clumps of dirt on it, likely because he was on the ground for a decent amount of time. His yellow backpack and uniform had black patches all over them, likely from coming in contact with fire. There were unseen bruises all over his skin hidden under his outfit, but Bu Fang knew they were there.

“I-I’m sorry-”

“DEKU!” Someone yelled. He flinched.

“I’m sorry. I’m s-sorry.” Izuku kept apologizing with his palms over his eyes and it clicked in Bu Fang that the boy was apologizing to him. “I just- I just needed s-somewhere to h-hide.”

Sounds that vaguely reminded Bu Fang of firecrackers popped from outside the alley.

“Where the fuck did you run off to, Deku?!” The same person, probably the one tailing the kid shouted into the alley. Bu Fang decided that he needed to get rid of the incessant noise lest it scared off any potential customers.

He left the kitchen and stepped out of the establishment without glancing at Izuku. He looked to where the sound came from and saw some angry kid with blonde hair who was making small explosions atop his palm that actually looked like exploding firecrackers. Then the kid realized Bu Fang was looking at him and all the explosions ceased and he wore a mildly panicked expression.

Bakugo saw that the only person present was not who he was looking for, and that wasn’t good. What if he got reported for illegal quirk use? So he straightened himself and turned the opposite direction with a glare. Damn Deku and his useless self actually trying to stand up to him. Bakugo sauntered off with his hands in his pockets.

“Kids these days…” Bu Fang idly commented, forgetting he wasn’t that much older than them. Turning his head, he saw his first official customer silently crying against the wall. His eyes displayed sympathy for the boy and he crouched down to the lazy black dog right by the entrance.

“Hey Blacky, you never get dirty right? Why don’t you go to that kid and try to comfort him?” Bu Fang whispered.

Said dog just opened one eye to stare at him tiredly before it went back to sleep.

“If you don’t go over there, I won’t feed you Egg-Fried Rice tomorrow,” threatened Bu Fang with a frown.

Blacky instantly stood up to spare him an indignant look and trudged towards Izuku with cat-like grace. Bu Fang was instantly speechless.

Izuku was still quietly sobbing when a familiar dog lied down right in front of him and began to take a nap. Blacky’s smooth fur was quite alluring to look at and he had an urge to brush his hands through it. Looking up, Izuku saw the chef sitting on the chair closest to him, gaze elsewhere.

He took it as a subtle way to ask a question and with the tranquil atmosphere permeating his own depressive aura, he felt it right to answer it.

“Th-that was my f-friend, Kacchan…” Izuku said quietly, his hands unconsciously making their way to Blacky’s fur. “A-at least… that’s his n-nickname.”

Bu Fang snorted lightly. Izuku winced. ‘Friend’.

“And ‘useless’ is your nickname?” He said, prompting the kid to flinch.

“H-he used to be much nicer… t-then he got his quirk and…” Izuku was on the verge of crying again, but held himself together by running his hands through Blacky’s fur. “I… didn’t.”

“A-and then you said you were q-quirkless, and y-you were able to cook food as g-good as chefs with cooking quirks…” Bu Fang narrowed his eyes at that. ‘As good’? Comparable? He needed to up his game.

“S-so I… confronted him, and…” Izuku trailed off, still stroking the surprisingly smooth black fur of the restaurant’s… mascot? It always slept on the same spot whenever he saw it.

“And because of these little things he abused you with his quirk?” Bu Fang raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“L-little…? Wait, please don’t report him for that! It wouldn’t do good for Kacchan if there was a mark on his record!” Izuku pleaded, not stuttering at all. That did not really bode well for the chef but fine.

“Okay.” Bu Fang responded simply, stumping the kid. Surely a bit more convincing would be required?

That simple answer kinda hurts!

“So what are you ordering?” Bu Fang asked, the corners of his lips curling upwards.

Now that hurt even more!

“I don’t have enough money on me right now… s-so maybe another day!” Izuku promised with an apologetic bow after he stood up. He didn’t notice Blacky giving Bu Fang a sharp look.

He was about to head home when he stopped himself, hesitating. Bu Fang waited on his seat.

“Um… by the way, my name is Midoriya Izuku, i-if you were wondering.” Izuku said, turning his red face to the chef. “And I think you’re quite inspiring, mister.”

If Bu Fang was surprised, he didn’t show it. “Call me Bu Fang, or Owner Bu. I’m Chinese so I don’t quite follow honorifics.”

Now that got Midoriya to widen his eyes. Bu Fang spoke Japanese so fluently it sounded like he grew up in Japan, but he was actually Chinese!

“See you next time, O-owner Bu!” He left the restaurant with a small smile gracing his face. Leaving the store feeling happy would soon be a common occurrence for the young Midoriya.

Back with Bu Fang, he was being scrutinized by Blacky.

“Good job, Blacky. I’ll cook you a bigger portion of Egg-Fried Rice tomorrow.” He said with a satisfied smile. The dog simply snorted and cocked its head away from Bu Fang. Blacky returned to his previous spot with cat-like steps.

Bu Fang pushed the chair back into the table and went back in the kitchen, spirits lifted a little. He grasped his kitchen knife and twirled it for a few seconds, saying to himself, “Practice makes one better, but never perfect.”

Then he began practicing.

Chapter Text

Bu Fang had chosen to head out today.

It was a decision made on a whim and it was just the next day after the small incident involving his only customer.

But he was really curious about Japanese delicacies and since The System doesn’t have full control of his life, Bu Fang was able to close up the store for the morning. Blacky was currently thoroughly enjoying the large bowl of Egg-Fried Rice given to it as he left to try out some Japanese snacks on his stroll.

He also needed to look for a restaurant to critique their dishes to complete the mission.

Stepping out of the alley, Bu Fang eyed the soon to be busy streets and went exploring.

He was unbothered by the strange-looking people walking with the ordinary ones and generally looking out of place. Mutation quirks were quite a sight to behold when Bu Fang first came to this world but he soon became used to it. How can he be a good chef and server if he were to stare at every odd customer?

Bu Fang enjoyed the early morning chill in the air as he breathed slowly. Even a city as busy as Musutafu had its cold mornings and nights. He glanced about the streetsides, looking for something to have on the go. The day so far was quite peaceful, with not one hero-villain fight to be seen. It seemed The System had set up his restaurant in a relatively peaceful area where there were not many shops selling truly valuable items worth fighting a hero over.

Bu Fang’s eyes lingered on a stall that sold freshly made mochi. It was a type of sweet treat that he hadn’t eaten often but had good experiences with, so he walked towards it with an intent to buy some. He entered the little store and saw only one other customer eyeing at the contents behind the display glass.

Stepping towards the selection, Bu Fang inwardly marveled at the variety and was quite intrigued at some of the flavors that he didn’t know could go with mochi. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the other customer closing the distance between them.

“There’s a lot of flavors so it can be a bit discouraging to choose one among all of them, but I personally recommend the green tea mochi.” She said, smiling. Bu Fang subtly took in her appearance. The girl didn’t look older than Midoriya and had shoulder-length and bobbed brown hair which was an interesting sight to see. He assumed she was just sidetracked on her way to school judging by the backpack on her back.

Bu Fang nodded at her suggestion and bought two green tea mochis. He also purchased one red bean mochi and one roasted peanut mochi and told the cashier to put one green tea mochi in another bag.

After he had paid for the snacks, Bu Fang handed the paper bag containing the singular mochi to the girl.

“E-eh?! I can’t accept this! You paid for it with your own money!” She exclaimed, shaking her head and making exaggerated movements with her arms.

“It’s fine. You looked like you were craving for one and you also gave me the recommendation. Just take it.” Bu Fang replied coolly.

“Um… if, if you insist!” She grabbed the bag, embarrassed but elated in her heart. “If we meet again, I’ll be sure to pay you back, mister!”

He simply gave her an absent-minded wave and exited the shop, paper bag of three different flavored mochis in hand. Honestly, one of the reasons he decided to gift her one was because she wasn’t some brat at her age. Forgetting about Bakugo, she and Midoriya had kind personalities and were quite endearing.

Bu Fang walked by a few restaurants as he savored the delicious treats. Now he only needed to look for one more thing before heading back.

A loud crash caught his attention and he walked towards it, curious. A few blocks away was an actual bank robbery and hostage situation too. He stood with the crowd of onlookers and waited for a Pro-Hero to swoop in and take action.

Bu Fang did not have to wait long before All Might himself popped out from seemingly nowhere and threw himself into the building, dispatching the villains so quickly that they couldn’t harm any of the hostages.

“It’s alright now! Why? Because I am here!” He said, boisterous, as he propped up several unconscious villains on his shoulders. The police moved in to ensure the civilians were alright and everyone from the sidelines cheered for the Pro-Hero.

Bu Fang had his gaze landed on somewhere else, however. Several blocks away from the bank was an eye-catching establishment that still had customers going in and out of even with all the ruckus happening out here.

Immortal Sushi Restaurant , the signboard above the entrance read.

And Bu Fang made a decision.

…

Emptying his bag of mochis, Bu Fang disposed of the paper bag by crumpling it up and tossing it to an empty dumpster right by the alleyway. A black-haired teenager sporting a dark blue outfit caught his attention by walking out the other end of the alley where his restaurant resided.

Bu Fang didn’t know what kind of trauma that person had experienced, but to be covered in so much burnt skin, he had probably gone to hell and back.

Bu Fang opened the restaurant for the day and as usual, no customers came.

The next morning came quickly and he settled into the monotonous routine with indifference after opening up for the day. Given enough time, his little store will grow into something all of Japan will have heard of and once he becomes the God of Cooking, the whole world will know of Bu Fang.

Well, for now, he’s fine as he is currently.

Bu Fang could hear someone entering the restaurant so he exited the kitchen to receive their order only to be held at gunpoint by some lanky individual who masked their face using a bag with two holes to look out of.

“Give me all the money you have.” The man demanded, trying to sound intimidating with his own body looking like a strong gust of wind could blow him away. Not to mention that ridiculous ‘mask’.

“Do not cause trouble in my store,” Bu Fang responded plainly, unconcerned. It would take more than a gunman to make him feel threatened. He couldn’t see the man’s face through the eye-holes, but Bu Fang thought he saw the villain blink in incomprehension.

“You… you wanna get shot? I don’t like killing people, so go get the fucking money!” The man growled, but Bu Fang easily caught the hesitation in their voice.

“If you dare to shoot, then shoot. Don’t waste my time.” He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow condescendingly.

“You… you…” It appeared that the villain was lost for words. “Oi, I’ll really shoot you, you know!”

Bu Fang simply turned around and began walking back into the kitchen. He was feeling for some practice and didn’t want to waste his time.

Fuming in anger, the villain gripped his gun harder and applied slightly more force onto the trigger. “You making fun of me, punk?! I’ll show you!”

His hand shook, scared of the consequences if he became a murderer but damn, he’s already a villain, wasn’t he? He could take the next step! “Fuck you!”

The man mustered up just enough courage to finally pull the trigger. Bu Fang was right there and the villain was somehow getting tunnel vision because of the tense situation stressful for only him. And because of the lack of vision, he failed to see a white-clad figure heading towards Bu Fang from the kitchen entrance.

The trigger was pulled and the bullet whizzed through the air, straight towards the chef. Instead of hearing the expected and dreadful sound of a bullet coming in contact with flesh, a deafening clang was heard.

The villain shook himself out of his daze and he bore witness to a white and humanoid robot that had a smoking bullet resting atop its palm. On the robot’s chest was a small scratch where the projectile had landed on.

“Whitey, throw him out.” Bu Fang ordered casually.

“Troublemakers will be denied of their quirks for a week as an example to others.” A mechanical voice solemnly declared, which caused the supposed assailant’s body to tense up. He pulled the trigger once more-

Crack!

There went the gun. The villain made a noise of confusion seeing Whitey right in front of him.

The robot had shot forward so fast that he could not follow the action that followed. Whitey backhanded the weapon with so much force that the gun flew from the villain’s grasp with a crack and shattered on impact with the wall.

“I- huh?! Ack-” Whitey proceeded to shove the man with an extraordinary amount of strength which sent him tumbling out of the restaurant with a wheeze as his back collided with the wall of the opposite building. A click sounded out from a band Whitey attached to the villain’s wrist while he was still on the ground. It was a System-made quirk-suppressing cuff.

The robot took a step back and the villain scrambled up, mask somehow still on and ran away from the store as fast as he could.

Bu Fang huffed through his nose in amusement, his head poking out of the entrance. According to The System, Whitey was only one of the restaurant’s trump cards which suggested that there were more. He looked down at Blacky to see that the black dog had slept through the entire ordeal as if there wasn’t just a gun going off moments ago.

“If there was a match for Whitey, how will a lazy dog like you protect the store?” Bu Fang asked rhetorically. Blacky was either actually sleeping or just ignoring him.

“So cool!” Someone squealed. Bu Fang turned his head to see a blonde girl with her hair in two very messy buns on either sides of her head.

“Hey mister, did you make that robot? Its name is Whitey, right? How did you make Whitey become so strong?” She inquired with an ever present open-mouthed smile which displayed her sharp canines that were longer than normal.

The corner of Bu Fang’s lip twitched and he simply said, “The robot is the store’s bodyguard. It is not manufactured in a traditional sense.”

He walked back in the restaurant with Whitey and the girl following close behind.

“Whitey, clean up the mess.” He said and it complied, scooping up the broken fragments of the villain’s firearm and disposing of it through its stomach.

The young girl watched Whitey closely as it worked and she pointed at its abdomen. “Hey, why is its stomach so dark? It’s like as dark as a black hole in there!”

Bu Fang sat himself on one of the chairs, motivation to cook for the day out the window after the encounters. He was about to ask if she wanted to order anything, but the girl was quicker with her words.

“This place opened quite recently, right? Why did you open it in such a suspicious place?” She darted in front of him and asked, curiosity clear on her objectively cute face and voice.

“I set it up here because I could. There should be no problem, right?” Bu Fang asked, slightly narrowing his eyes.

She giggled, her yellow and feline eyes squinted into crescents. “You’re funny, mister! Let’s be friends!”

Bu Fang lightly exhaled. He was getting impatient with this energetic girl. “What would you like to order?”

“Ah, sorry! I don’t have any money on me right now!” She said, rubbing the back of her neck apologetically. “But I promise to come back! Because we’re friends and friends help each other out!”

Bu Fang nodded in acceptance and ignored her as she exited the store.

“Oh! And mister, you should be careful around these parts.” She stopped herself and advised. “There could be bad people that might come here and ruin you business.”

“What are you implying?” He asked, regarding her with indifference.

“Nothing! But you should be careful, Whitey might meet its match one day!” The girl chirped a bit too excitedly. “Oh, my name is Toga Himiko! You can call me Himiko if you want, but Toga is easier to say!”

“Call me Bu Fang or Owner Bu, you don’t have to use honorifics since I’m Chinese.” He responded offhandedly. Toga’s smile was pulled wider.

“Ok! I’ll see you later, Owner Bu!” With that, she left with an enthusiastic wave.

The restaurant was left in silence once more, Whitey’s job already done and the place spotless once more. Bu Fang let out a sigh.

So much for pleasant experiences with kids… 

Chapter Text

Bu Fang opened the restaurant for the day.

He planned to make a visit to the Immortal Sushi Restaurant some other day, since he did not quite have enough money to order many dishes. So it was only a matter of how long it would take before the next few customers come and order something.

Oh, it’s some hurried footsteps again.

As expected, it was Midoriya that ran in the store looking almost as bad as he did two days ago.

“DEKU!” Same annoyingly aggressive voice. Except this time Bakugo spotted where Izuku escaped into. Bu Fang pinched the bridge of his nose.

“There’s nowhere for you to run now, fucking Deku-” Bakugo stilled right as he looked into the store. There was Deku on the verge of breaking down right there and the same tall dude from two days back looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Shit.

“Fuck- er, stop wasting this guy’s time Deku. Now come the hell out and we’ll finish what we started.” Bakugo mentally patted his back for coming up with a relatively (to him) innocent excuse to get out of anyone’s sight.

Izuku shook his head and Bakugo glared . “I said…”

He stepped forward towards Midoriya who was shaking like a leaf and only getting worse the closer he got. “Get. The. Hell. Out.”

Bakugo’s subtly smoldering hand reached out to grab Izuku’s arm.

And he was intercepted by an iron grip.

“Don’t cause trouble in my store.” Bu Fang said coldly, staring down at the kid that needed discipline. His tone of voice actually made Bakugo back off slightly.

Bakugo ground his teeth in anger for actually getting intimidated by some nobody who owned a store in an alley. He took a deep breath and uttered as calmly as possible, “I’m just getting my friend to leave and get out of your hair.”

“I’m talking about your quirk. You’re not allowed to use quirks in my store.” Said Bu Fang, still grabbing on to the boy’s arm. Bakugo’s eyes widened and he froze.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replied, deactivating his quirk instantly. The chef narrowed his eyes.

“I could smell the burning odor from a short distance away. Don’t lie.” Bu Fang was a chef, of course he could catch that dreadful smell. Bakugo’s face twisted. Many negative emotions flashed through his expression and he gritted his teeth.

“We were just… sparring. Deku’s just a coward who can’t take a hit. I was just… helping him grow a backbone.” He said as if he was also convincing himself if that was a good enough excuse.

“Ah. So sparring led to the burn marks?” Bu Fang said dryly. He shook his head in disappointment. “Kids these days… bullying another for ridiculous reasons.”

That’s it. Who does this extra think he is? Some big shot? “What the fuck do you know? This quirkless Deku here is only gonna get killed if he actually becomes a hero! This useless fucker can’t save anyone for shit! The world wouldn’t give a shit if this worthless bastard never existed!”

Bakugo was seething by the end of it, wanting to say more but he had already gone too far. Once he got reported for illegal quirk use and physical abuse, the chances of him making it into UA would likely be non-existent.

Izuku opted to watch his rant with shock in his eyes instead of hurt. Kacchan… just said all of this in front of an adult! What’s going to happen to him?!

Bu Fang furrowed his brows at the furiously trembling kid in front of him. He couldn’t make sense of his woes. There’s Midoriya who apparently wants to be a hero and cares greatly for his ‘friend’, and said friend who absolutely despised Midoriya for being quirkless.

So… why did Bakugo keep tormenting him? Why keep being associated with Midoriya? Perhaps there was a reason.

But he didn’t really care. It was opening hours and Bu Fang wanted to cook, not break down the unhealthy relationship of two middle-school kids. He let go of Bakugo’s arm. “No matter. I’ll forget what you said. Would you like to order anything?”

That got both Bakugo and Izuku to shoot bewildered looks at the chef. Even though Izuku had experienced something like this before… he still wasn’t quite used to it.

Bakugo knew that if Bu Fang’s words could be trusted… his road to becoming a Pro-Hero will be intact, but he was suspicious. He glanced over to the menu and-

His eyes bulged nearly out of socket. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Those prices… a scam! A complete and utter scam!

“YOU THINK I’M DUMB ENOUGH TO BUY SOMETHING THAT EXPENSIVE IN SOME RESTAURANT IN AN ALLEY?!” Bakugo yelled at Bu Fang who didn’t seem bothered by the volume. Izuku however…

“K-Kacchan, there’s a reason why the prices are so high.” He defended for the chef. Izuku knew that the effects of the dishes here were wondrous.

“I didn’t ask you, Deku!” Bakugo snarled in reply, which sent Izuku shrinking away. His angry red eyes snapped back to Bu Fang who let out a sigh of dismay.

“Ah… I suppose I shouldn’t expect kids with little pocket money to be able to afford my dishes. You kiddos should just leave. I don’t want you two to scare off customers that can afford my cooking.” He said, shaking his head. “Go on now, shoo.”

Izuku blinked. That didn’t seem like something Owner Bu would normally say. He glanced at Kacchan.

“Hah?! Did you just call me poor, fucker?!” Bakugo bared his teeth ferally. His fingers twitched and veins popped on his forehead. “Fine, I’ll buy one of your shitty dishes! Give me one fucking expensive Egg-Fried Rice!”

“Can you pay for it?” Bu Fang asked, the corners of his lips curling upwards. Bakugo’s eye twitched.

He reached into the backpack hanging loosely from his shoulder and dug through each compartment in the bag until he found what he needed and pulled several half-crumpled bills out. Bakugo counted them swiftly and Izuku couldn’t help but gape at the scene that just played out.

Kacchan got played.

“Kacchan, why were you keeping so much money in you backpack?” Izuku asked curiously. It was a genuine question, too. What middle-school kid brings so much of their allowance for one day?

“I said I didn’t ask you, Deku!” Bakugo turned his head to glare at Izuku briefly before going back to counting the messy stack of cash in his hands. His face slowly twisted into a grimace.

“Deku!” He shouted at Izuku, making the boy jump. “How much money do you have on you?”

“Um…” He looked through his backpack. “I should have… 1000 yen.”

“Fucking hell Deku, who do you think you’re showing off to, bringing so much money to school?” Bakugo snarked.

Izuku opened his mouth. Then he closed it.

“Whatever, that should be just enough to pay for that shitty Egg-Fried Rice.” Bakugo reached out with an open palm. “Give it.”

Izuku stared at the waiting hand with a pained expression. His lip trembled. “O… ok, Kacchan.”

Bakugo clicked his tongue and reached further to grab the cash from Izuku’s shaking arm. He felt an ominous presence to his side and he spared a glance at the chef.

And Bu Fang was just giving him the most judgemental look he’d ever received. Bakugo gritted his teeth hard and with much disgust, said, “I’ll give you a fifth of it, ok?”

Izuku perked up and Bakugo managed to snatch the money. “Here, should be exactly 5000 yen.”

Bu Fang took the money off of his hands and walked into the kitchen to prepare while the two boys sat awkwardly on one table.

Izuku allowed the cozy atmosphere to let him relax a bit as the anticipation for Owner Bu’s Egg-Fried Rice grew. Bakugo had a frown on his face as he sat with his arms crossed. From what he’d heard… it seemed that Deku had been here before and actually bought something.

Not only that, he had also defended the outrageous pricing for the items on the menu. What were the chances Deku had been brainwashed in one way or another?

At this point Bakugo’s imagination was going wild and Izuku was looking at Kacchan’s shifting expressions in confusion.

Right when Bakugo was about to up and leave in paranoia, a fragrance wafted into his nose and he was thoroughly conquered.

He unconsciously relaxed his tense muscles and resigned himself to his fate. If he was going to get brainwashed, he wanted to go down eating whatever enchanted Egg-Fried Rice until the end.

Izuku wasn’t doing any better. Having only eaten Dry-Mixed Noodles, the delicious smell of Egg-Fried Rice right as it was cooking had him enraptured. Probably not even All Might had experienced such pleasures on the dining table.

They didn’t even realize they had been seated on their spot for a few minutes already before Bu Fang walked out with a tray with two porcelain bowls on top of it.

Both of them snapped their eyes open and simultaneously swallowed their saliva. They watched as Bu Fang set the larger bowl filled with pearl-like rice grains coated with golden egg liquid in front of Bakugo. The smaller bowl was empty and he placed it in front of Izuku.

Bakugo held his breath as he scooped a fifth of the rice into Izuku’s bowl. He didn’t trust himself to not wolf down the entire dish if he witnessed the visual allure of the dish along with its fragrance at the same time.

“K-Kacchan, that’s not one-fifth.” Izuku said, wiping a bit of drool from his lower lip.

Oh this fucker.

Bakugo’s glare intensified at the other boy who was not bothered by it at all, opting to fix his gaze on his own bowl. Bakugo scooped another spoonful of the Egg-Fried Rice and dumped it in Izuku’s bowl. “Ask me for more and I’ll kill you.”

Izuku absentmindedly nodded, picking up his own spoon.

Bakugo took the first bite. Then another, and another, and another. He couldn’t stop!

It. Was. Good .

Izuku tried to eat it slowly to savor the taste but could only manage that for his first bite. It felt like his taste buds were getting gently caressed by the heavenly taste and he lost it. In just a few large bites he had finished his portion with a flush on his face from the heat.

Bakugo could take the heat easily as he nearly buried his head in the bowl while eating like he had never eaten good food in his life. Eventually, he finished without even realizing it.

“Fuck, that was too little!” He fumed. That was the best fucking thing he’d ever eaten an it was gone just like that. “Oi, isn’t that too little for 5000 yen?!”

Bu Fang eyed both of them from the chair across the room and gave a weird smirk. “Wait a few more seconds.”

“The fuck are you talking about-” Bakugo stopped himself and his eyes slowly widened. His body shot up and his fingers twitched with repressed urge to use his quirk. He felt like he could run a whole marathon without stopping! “Is this your quirk?!”

Bu Fang shook his head and gestured to Midoriya.

His face was still flushed but this time not from the heat. Izuku took deep breaths to calm the initial rush of energy that came from only a fifth of the dish.

“Kacchan… Owner Bu is quirkless.” He told Bakugo with a smile.

Bakugo froze in shock and his eyes were comically wide. His jaw hung open.

“Bullshit! It’s impossible to make something taste that good and give an instant effect like that!” He shouted in disbelief. Bu Fang’s eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.

“I don’t need a quirk to cook good food,” he replied simply. Bakugo was about to say more but was interrupted by Izuku.

“The effects… were caused by the ingredients itself, Kacchan. The taste was mostly the results of Owner Bu’s hard work.” He said, no longer affected by the shouting.

“I didn’t ask-”

“Midoriya is correct,” Bu Fang cut in, his features slowly setting back to his look of indifference. “The cooking was done completely quirkless. The ingredients…”

He stroked his chin in thought. “It could be said that they’re harder to cook compared to normal ingredients.”

“What do you mean? Shouldn’t quirked ingredients make everything taste better and more expensive?” Bakugo asked, voice not nearly as loud as before.

“Most chefs would be inclined to agree… but that just means they have never cooked with quirk-influenced ingredients before.” Bu Fang pointed out. “You understand that quirks have their drawbacks, yes?”

Bakugo nodded mutely, curious about what the chef had to say.

“These ingredients follow a similar rule. They may have enhanced quality and impressive effects but that comes with difficult methods to prepare them. The ingredients’ properties change heavily because of the quirks and I have to be extra meticulous when handling them. And that’s not all. During the cooking process, I must put a certain amount of focus to not make any errors. When it comes to these ingredients, you either cook it flawlessly or risk ruining its taste and benefits.” Bu Fang explained as he stood up from his seat. “Or to put it simply…”

He walked closer to Bakugo and stared down at him with impassive eyes. “If I were to make a single mistake, the dish could lose its value and be worth less than a tenth of the original price.”

Bakugo was uncharacteristically silent and Izuku watched the exchange with amazement. His eyes were full of even more respect for Owner Bu. He felt… slightly overwhelmed, as if someone told him if he worked hard enough, he could be…

“And you still wanted to cook quirked ingredients despite being quirkless?” Bakugo asked softly. Bu Fang nodded in confirmation.

“It was my dream to do big things as a chef. Now I’ve already set myself on that road regardless of whether I have a quirk or not. Humans did not need quirks to reach the Moon. So let me ask you.” His eyes narrowed. Bakugo’s face flashed with a certain emotion. Izuku’s breath hitched.

“Why do you stop Midoriya from following his dreams? The one he respects so much, constantly putting him down like he was worthless. Surely he’s already learned of the dangers that comes with being a Pro-Hero? Yet he still tries so hard, even after being tormented by the likes of you. So why don't you believe that Midoriya can become a hero?”

And that was all Izuku could take before promptly bursting into tears.

“Respects…?” Bakugo echoed lowly.

“Kacchan… I-I’ve always looked up to you… you h-have an amazing quirk, and, and you’re better than me in e-everything… I wished… I could b-be like you one day…” Izuku said through his sobs.

And the cause of this whole scene, Bu Fang, was just standing there, not knowing what to do. His face was blank but he was mentally applauding himself for hitting the nail on the head on their broken friendship and also berating himself for creating this situation in the middle of his restaurant during business hours.

Bakugo looked at Izuku with an unreadable expression before turning his body and walking out of the store. Izuku saw this and tried to tail him. Right before leaving however, Izuku turned to look at Bu Fang with red eyes and asked, “Do you… really believe I can be a hero?”

Bu Fang looked at the kid up and down. It will be hard for him, but perhaps not impossible. “Train hard, kiddo. I’ll be awaiting the good news.”

Izuku smiled through the tears and said sincerely, “Thank you, Owner Bu… Hearing you say that means a lot to me…”

Bu Fang nodded in response and with that, Izuku left to chase after his friend. “Kacchan! Wait!”

He cleared the tables and placed the bowls in the System-given dishwasher to clean. The System was also the one cleaning the dust and fallen pieces of food that may be on the tables. Bu Fang let out a breath, content.

Today was quite eventful.

Chapter Text

“Let’s eat there tomorrow night!” A high-pitched and feminine voice sounded from the darkness of the shadowed alleys.

“What, we’ve become dine and dashers now?” A much deeper and masculine voice drawled from the same spot as the previous voice.

“It’s better than dumpster diving though!” The girl said with a pout in her voice.

“Fine, fine, Toga. I’ll take your word for it. You need me to deal with the robot bodyguard, right?” The man said with a huff.

“That’s right! Thanks Dabi!” Toga exclaimed cheerily.

Both of them stepped into the moonlight to reveal the perpetually smiling blonde girl that had her hair in two messy buns and a black-haired and vaguely youthful man with spiked and messy black hair. He was covered with burn scars and stitches lined certain parts of his body.

Dabi sighed. “The food better be good.”

…

The next day was peaceful and devoid of drama. There were no more customers but that was fine. Bu Fang was a pretty patient person.

So far, he had only made 6000 yen in total in these few days and he was hopeful that diners will slowly trickle in over time, as if Midoriya was the first piece of domino that fell over to mark the beginning of a chain reaction.

Bu Fang would find out in time that he was right.

But for now, all he could do was practice and practice, maybe laze around on a chair occasionally. As the future God of Cooking, he couldn’t slack off too often.

So that’s how it was until evening.

“Owner Bu! I’m here to buy some food!” A girl entered the restaurant with a young man following closely behind her. Bu Fang washed his hands and exited the kitchen to be greeted by the sight of a grinning Toga and the scarred fellow he saw two days ago. “I brought my friend Dabi with me!”

He raised an eyebrow before he asked, “What would you like to order?”

“The most expensive one! The Egg-Fried Rice!” Toga pointed a finger at the menu. Bu Fang turned to the scarred teenager.

“The same thing she’s having, I guess.” Said Dabi, inspecting the interior of the store. And the menu. Holy shit that’s expensive.

The relaxing atmosphere… was not something he had expected. When was the last time he’d felt this sense of security?

Dabi broke out of his thoughts as Toga got seated on a table. He followed a little awkwardly, not knowing how he should act in a restaurant. Even though he was a villain, there was still an urge to act with etiquette.

The chef had already entered the kitchen to prepare their meals for the evening. Dabi couldn’t help but throw glances at his surroundings warily. They could be considered in enemy territory depending on which side Bu Fang was on.

Dabi looked at Toga to see that she was unbothered and wholly giddy for the dish as she sat relaxedly on the chair and swung her legs. She hummed a tune on the spot in her anticipation. He inwardly wished he could be as carefree as she was.

“Don’t be so serious, Dabi. Owner Bu is a good guy who cooks really well!” Toga only needed a glance to tell he was uneasy. But Owner Bu was such a chill person! “Just wait for the smell of food!”

Dabi snorted. “I’ll wait until I actually have a bite. The taste will tell if the food is… is…”

He trailed off, catching a fragrance coming out of the kitchen. He was fully captivated by his second breath. Toga was openly inhaling the smell of Egg-Fried Rice without a single care for her appearance.

“Hah~, I didn’t get a proper whiff of it when I checked this place out but this is how it smells like in its full glory, huh?” She exhaled, intoxicated by the divine aroma. Dabi was too busy trying to savor the feeling that came with the fragrance to pay attention to Toga.

When was the last time he had smelled something so… pleasant? Something that aroused his appetite so much that he was actually looking forward to his next meal?

Both of their stomachs rumbled loudly and Dabi blinked, snapped out of his trance. Bu Fang approached both of them with a tray of two bowls filled to the brim with golden grains of rice. Dabi swallowed his saliva. Toga leaned forward, face rosy and full of excitement.

Bu Fang placed the bowls on the table along with porcelain spoons. “Enjoy your meal.”

Dabi was struck silent at the sight of the seemingly glowing Egg-Fried Rice. To eat this and not reward the chef for his efforts… it felt like committing a great sin. He shook his head at the thought. He was a villain that had killed people before, so what if he ate without paying?

He picked up the spoon and dug into the rice. The burst of fragrance sent him reminiscing again about… his hand quivered in emotion… and guilt.

Lifting up the trembling spoon to his mouth, he took a bite. And chewed it slowly.

It was delicious.

He wanted to eat more, eat quicker, gorge down the entire dish and experience paradise with his taste buds. But his body wouldn’t let him.

Each bite was heavy, and weighted in his mind. With every swallow, a clouded memory was cleared for him to rewatch. The life Dabi lived before he ran away from home… was slowly being uncovered without him wanting to.

In the center of repressed memories was something he desperately didn’t want to witness again. He wanted to scream and shout and stop himself from taking the next bite, but from the back of his mind he knew if he stopped eating or ate faster, his past will once again be veiled in a mirage of deceit.

Dabi knew his goals. He wanted to kill Endeavor. He no longer wanted his real name. He chose to be a villain.

But those goals were set years ago and he was simply following them… never daring to recall the blaze of fury that overwhelmed his mind during that day. He didn’t want to recall why his emotions almost turned himself into a monster.

Yet he needed it. The mirage… was just there to mask the pain. It was not good for him. He needed to get rid of the fog that was covering the memories of his past. He needed …

But what if Dabi wanted to keep gazing at the beautiful mirage?

Tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Even Toga was eating at a strangely moderate pace, but his attention was elsewhere.

It was like the cracking of glass. Memories leaked from the openings and flooded his mind.

Father, it hurts!

Pick yourself up this instant.

Please, I can’t use it anymore!

Today’s session is not over yet.

My quirk is hurting me, father!

Then you are a failure of a creation.

Dabi could remember the day he despaired for someone that was not himself.

Todoroki Shouto will succeed in where you have failed, Touya. For he is my masterpiece.

His grip tightened and he let the tears fall. Just not in the bowl.

With one more bite, the mirage shattered and he remembered .

An hour before midnight, below the crescent moon, Todoroki Touya carried out his plan.

An hour after midnight, below the crescent moon, Todoroki Touya ran away from home.

At midnight, below the crescent moon, Todoroki Touya snuck into Todoroki Shouto’s room undetected through a window.

Touya looked at Shouto’s sleeping figure and the child’s dried tears. He himself did not miss the feeling of crying, but he allowed himself to weep once more.

At midnight, below the roof of the Todoroki household, Todoroki Touya apologized to Shouto for the last time.

“Shouto,” Touya said quietly. “Big brother is sorry.” It was a one-sided conversation… but he would not have it any other way.

At midnight, below the roof of the Todoroki household, Todoroki Touya apologized to Shouto through words for the first time.

Before dawn, below the dark skies, Todoroki Touya vowed to never cry again.

Present day, below the ceiling of Bu Fang’s little store, Todoroki Touya broke the vow.

Bu Fang watched from the other side of the room as Dabi and Toga ate their meals. Their bites were slow and purposeful, full of somber sentiments.

Toga’s expression could not be seen, hidden by her hair and the bowl. Dabi however…

The young man was crying soundlessly, his tears flowing down his cheeks as he somehow managed to not get a single drop to fall into the bowl.

These people… clearly did not have easy lives. Even Midoriya had not experienced something like this.

Bu Fang sighed. His dishes contained a bit too much passion…

Both of them finished eating at the same time. Toga blinked, straight-faced, and licked her lips as her smile slowly reformed. Dabi wiped off the tears with a sleeve and looked at Bu Fang.

“Is… is this your quirk?” His voice shook for only a moment. Bu Fang shook his head in denial.

“No, it is not. Whatever you have experienced… has nothing to do with quirks.” He told them truthfully. Dabi could only stare at Bu Fang’s eyes that held no ill intent.

“Owner Bu, your cooking tastes really good! And it really energized me too!” Toga said happily, but there was something else underneath her usual smile. Dabi was reminded of the effects of the ingredients as he clenched and unclenched his fist a few times.

The beast beneath his quirk was ever so slightly calmed, even for a short while. He exhaled a breath of slightly turbid air.

“Is this you quirk?” He asked again and Bu Fang shook his head once more.

“Those effects come from the ingredients that were influenced by quirks one way or another.” Said Bu Fang.

“Quirked ingredients, huh… never heard of that concept before.” Dabi mused, staring at his left hand and curling his fingers a few times. After what he had experienced… he couldn’t handle making eye contact with Bu Fang any longer. He truly felt like a monster for what he was about to do.

“Owner Bu, your menu items are totally worth the price!” Toga spoke up with a grin. No one needed to know the growing ball of guilt that was eating away at the remnants of her conscience that told her of the right thing to do.

Bu Fang furrowed his brows and said, “You two cannot afford the dishes, can you?”

Dabi narrowed his eyes. Toga’s joyful expression faltered. Bu Fang stood up.

He walked towards them with measured steps. Every time his shoe came in contact with the ground, the two diners found themselves hesitating more and more. Do they really want to carry out this plan? It was clear that Bu Fang had no real combat experience and only had his robot bodyguard. If that was gone, then they might never experience his otherworldly cooking again.

Dabi’s hand twitched in agitation. Toga’s hand trembled as she felt the knife in one of her pockets. Bu Fang stopped. He scrutinized both of them which made them want to tear their hair out from the tension and indecisiveness in the air.

The reason Bu Fang was taking so long was because he took the time to ask The System about their punishment for not being able to pay.

After he finished listening to The System, he snapped back to reality. “Alright-”

“Um, Owner Bu?” He was interrupted by Toga who had a forlorn smile on her face. He turned to her curiously.

“I’m sorry.”

And her knife flashed forward.

Chapter Text

Something white bolted from the kitchen. Its plated hand shot forward to intercept the attack.

Crack!

Whitey crushed the knife under its grip with little to no effort. Toga was prepared to fall back, but underestimated Whitey’s speed. The robot’s fist closed in on her small frame and she could only try to block the punch with her arms before it struck her abdomen.

The force of the impact sent her stumbling backwards with a yelp but she was able to regain her footing without tripping. Dabi’s quirk flared and he willed a ball of fire to manifest atop his palm. As he was about to follow through with the attack, Whitey was already upon him.

“Troublemakers will be denied of their quirks for a week as an example to others.” Whitey’s mechanical voice sounded firmly.

Seeing a strange bracelet in the robot’s grasp, he immediately realized they were quirk-suppressing cuffs and instantly burst into flames. It worked as he’d intended, with Whitey stopping its movements for a moment.

Toga was no longer able to provide assistance due to the damage done to her arms that left them shaking from the pain and shock, so she decided to fall back out of the restaurant. Bu Fang was looking at them coldly, his expression pricking at her heart with guilt.

Dabi fired off a single burst of flames which Whitey extinguished it with a swift smack. He scowled and let his fire burn hotter in preparation for a stronger attack.

To his surprise, Whitey advanced in spite of the heat and got in a stance. In an instant, a metallic leg came in contact with an arm that he raised instinctively. Pain erupted on his forearm and he hissed in pain. He was inwardly convinced that his arm would have been broken if there was just slightly more force put into the robot’s roundhouse kick.

Dabi stumbled not unlike Toga did and also fell back out of the store. He deactivated his quirk as to not accidentally burn the girl and it was also starting to get uncomfortable.

Bu Fang swept his gaze over both of them contemplatively. Young people are quite quick in their actions…

Whitey stood in front of him protectively whilst also locking its eyes at them, ready to act if the two villains attempt to escape. He was about to open his mouth to clarify that their punishment wasn’t actually that bad, but was interrupted by Dabi.

“Sorry about this, Owner Bu.”

Blue flames poured from his palms and coiled around his arms. He shifted his body slightly and swung his arms with much force, sending a torrent of fire streaking into the store and towards Bu Fang.

“Shit, I hope I don’t accidentally-” Dabi cut himself off at the unbelievable scene before him.

Right before the flames could hit Whitey, it started spinning so fast that the fire got caught up in its motion and spiraled upwards. A localized tornado of blue fire roared loudly from inside the little store with Whitey in its center.

“Hey, is it just me or is the fire not burning anything ?” Said Toga. Dabi looked into the store and realized, to his incredulity, that indeed nothing inside was affected by the heat.

The System was responsible for the restaurant’s defences and not many quirks can actually damage anything that is its property.

Bu Fang stood in place frowning at the brightness. Thanks to The System, fire does not affect him too much when used against him, but the scalding temperatures of Dabi’s quirk in such close proximity was still irritating to the skin.

Dabi was sure he could hear Bu Fang talking, but he couldn’t make out what he said from the noise made by the swirling inferno.

“We should probably go.” He said to Toga, who was about to agree. What stopped them was Whitey, who lunged from inside the tornado looking like a burning rocket with its body spinning towards them head first.

Before anyone could react, the robot stretched out both of its arms which managed to smash into both villains, sending them careening back to a wall. Quirk-suppressing cuffs were attached to their wrists as the flames dispersed from Whitey’s body.

Their bodies ached from the one-sided fight. Toga, who felt as if her wrists were knocked out of its joints and Dabi, whose right arm was still throbbing with pain and his skin feeling a mild itch from his own quirk. Then there was Bu Fang who was just standing on the same spot as before after the flaming vortex dissipated without a single injury.

“You didn’t let me finish speaking,” he said, still frowning. Kids these days…

“Owner Bu… I didn’t know Whitey was this strong!” Toga gave a sheepish grin as she spoke shakily with her forearms slightly elevated in an attempt to quell the trembling. Dabi took a deep breath and exhaled, straightening his posture. He tapped on the cuff on his wrist inquisitively.

“You…” He looked up to Bu Fang who was walking up towards them, Whitey standing protectively by the entrance. “You’re not gonna let us go like the last guy, are you?”

Bu Fang shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but Dabi talked over him. “What, you’re going to turn us in? You had the opportunity the moment we stepped foot in your territory to wipe the floor with us and yet you still cooked us something to eat. Were you trying to lure us into a false sense of security? Or do you plan to use us now that we’ve played into your hand? You’re not actually some simple chef, are you-”

Dabi’s forehead was flicked by Bu Fang in the middle of his spite-filled rant.

“Kids these days… have too little trust in adults.” He said with a straight face, ignoring the fact that the villain might be older than him. Dabi’s lip twitched.

“You-” His forehead was flicked again as Bu Fang gave him a bored look.

“May I speak now?”

Dabi shut his mouth.

“I’m a chef, not a law enforcer. I don’t care about your status or your crimes, I’m just trying to run a business.” Bu Fang’s hand was hovering in front of Dabi’s head with the promise of flicking if he interrupted. “I’m not going through the trouble of turning you in. My store has its own rules people have to follow and if you break them, you will have to experience punishment.”

“ … What kind of punishment?” Dabi asked suspiciously.

“Normally, assaulting me would be grounds for wearing those cuffs but since you also couldn’t afford the dishes, I have to change it up a bit…” Bu Fang watched as they put on guarded expressions. “Become the restaurant’s waiters.”

The tense atmosphere became weird in an instant.

“That’s… it?” Dabi was staring at him with eyes full of bewilderment. Toga who was playing the role of spectator of the conversation chirped excitedly.

“Ok! I can be a waitress!” She said loudly with a more genuine grin. Dabi was still trying to process the whole situation when Bu Fang turned his attention back to him.

“I…” He didn’t know where to start. “Are you sure… you want someone like me to work in a restaurant? I mean… don’t I look intimidating? Like… like a villain?”

Bu Fang inspecting him up and down and came to a decision with a dismissive wave. “I suppose that’s true. You don’t have to work here if you don’t, but the cuff stays on for a week.”

Dabi’s face fell even further. Wasn’t that just the normal punishment? Although he really shouldn’t complain…

“I can’t really protect myself well without my quirk so I guess I’ll stick around.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Toga seemed thrilled at the prospects of being a waitress in Owner Bu’s little store.

“Since you’re working here, you’re only required to wear the cuffs during business hours.” Bu Fang explained to her.

As Toga entered the restaurant once again for more details, Dabi had a thought. With such expensive dishes, most would ignore this place which meant that there were not many customers dining here, so maybe he could recommend the place to someone?

…

“You know… it’s not everyday a villain recommends me to eat at some newly opened restaurant that beat them in a fight before.” Said the man sporting a formal attire, save for the cigarette in his hand and one undone button at the top of his shirt. Next to him was Dabi who led them both here.

It may not have been the best idea to bring Giran of all people here, but the man was the only other villain he could get in contact with that had enough money to afford Bu Fang’s dishes. Dabi only hoped the broker wouldn’t screw the store’s business over with his influence.

“It even has a dog to watch the entrance. Was it this big guy that beat you two up yesterday?” The man asked teasingly after breathing out a puff of smoke.

“No.” Dabi replied firmly with irritation in his voice.

Giran tossed the cigarette to the side and gave a crooked grin, revealing a missing front tooth. “Though I must say, it does smell very good. Let’s enter, shall we?”

He stepped into the little store with Dabi following behind and took a seat on the nearest chair, basking in the cozy atmosphere. Simply entering the store had helped with getting rid of some of the accumulated stress from his business. The information broker allowed himself to relax as he scanned the menu.

“You weren’t kidding when you said the items were expensive, huh? But it’s these types of places that will surprise you with their quality of product when you actually bother to spend money on it. I talk from experience, this restaurant may have outrageous prices to most people but it’s hardly a surprise to me anymore.” Giran imparted his wisdom to Dabi who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Toga skipped towards them with a smile to take the man’s order. “Hey mister! What would you like to order?”

“Toga, was it? May I exchange a few words with the chef that will be in charge of cooking my meal?” He requested. Toga didn’t need to relay the message because Bu Fang had walked out to see his new customer.

“I’ve been told your name is Bu Fang, but I may call you Owner Bu, yes?” Giran received a nod of affirmation. “Well, Owner Bu, let’s just say I’m a bit… infamous, in the underworld. I’ve been recommended here by someone who I’ve never actually done business with, so…”

His eyes held a malicious glint and he had yet to lose his grin. “If I don’t get my money’s worth, I’ll make sure that this little restaurant will not open the next day.”

Dabi couldn’t help but let himself smile for a second. Doubting Owner Bu’s culinary skills? That path would lead anyone to eat their words before they ate his cooking. Bu Fang glanced at him.

“You recommended him here?” He asked the younger villain.

“Yep.”

Bu Fang simply nodded in appreciation before turning back to face Giran with a blank look. “You are threatening to close my store down?”

“If I have to.” The man replied with his perpetually smug expression. Without hesitation, Bu Fang shot back.

“You do not have the capability.”

His tone was cold and also absolute. It held the firm belief that even if an army of villains came looking for trouble, his restaurant would not fall. Everyone in the store subconsciously put the statement into the back of their minds. Giran chuckled, impressed.

“Those are some arrogant words… I like it!” He huffed in amusement and his grin widened. “I would like to order an Egg-Fried Rice and Stir-Fried Vegetable.”

Bu Fang went back into the kitchen to prepare the dishes as Giran waited patiently. He even decided not to smoke as to not ruin the lingering fragrance of cooking in the restaurant.

“Owner Bu’s food is definitely worth it! It might even be too cheap for how good it is!” Toga said excitedly. She may not be the one who ordered the food, but she was still looking forward to it. Just a whiff of the smell of Egg-Fried Rice was considered a treat!

Sure enough, a mouth-watering aroma drifted out from the kitchen and Giran was convinced. “It seems I’ve made a good decision following you, Dabi. The smell can capture anyone’s interest as if it were a quirk.”

After a few minutes of waiting, a porcelain bowl filled with Egg-Fried Rice and a plate of Stir-Fried Vegetables atop a tray was placed on an open window for Toga to serve it to the customer. Dabi was positive he had not seen the window yesterday but Toga seemed unbothered by it. Where the hell did it come from?

She carried the tray to the table, careful not to drool on it. Giran raised an eyebrow at the Stir-Fried Vegetables.

“A leaf?” He said curiously as he poked the vegetables with his chopsticks. If not for the light fragrance it gave off, he wouldn’t know it was actually cooked. “I’ll save it for last to see how this nice looking piece of vegetable tastes.”

Giran picked up the porcelain spoon and began eating. True to the girl’s words, the taste itself was already worth the price. He immersed himself in the food as he consumed mouthful after mouthful of rice. Status did not matter in the face of such delicacies. Even if one was the ruler of the criminal underworld, they would still be captivated by delicious food.

Finishing the Egg-Fried Rice with a blissful smile, he turned to the Stir-Fried Vegetable. It was a unique turquoise green color and it still looked lush. Bu Fang was able to control the heat so diligently in the cooking process that the vegetables were able to retain most if not all of its moisture.

Giran bit down on the leaf with crunch and his eyes widened in surprise. He felt as if a cold stream was emanating from inside his mouth. The stream tasted of light sweetness and enveloped his taste buds, refreshing him. It flowed down his esophagus and seemingly spread all over his body. The envious stares poking into his sides were ignored.

“This feeling… is quite divine.” He muttered to himself before finishing the large piece of vegetable. Giran exhaled, the smell of smoke in his breath almost completely subdued by the dishes’ fragrance. “I very much regret smoking before coming here. And to think food could give off such remarkable effects.”

He reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out his wallet. He counted the bills and handed 6000 yen to Toga, who placed it inside a polished wooden box that Dabi was positive he also did not see yesterday either.

“Thank you very much for introducing to me arguably the best diner in Musutafu, if not the entirety of Japan.” Giran acknowledged Dabi with an open palm stretched forward. Dabi returned the action and they shook hands. The broker turned to Bu Fang who sat on a chair to idle after cooking the dishes. “I’ll be sure to return every once in a while to order a dish or two.”

Bu Fang nodded and Giran left with renewed energy and a clear mind. The store returned to having no customers, but it wasn’t very lonely anymore with the extra company.

Chapter Text

“You got the cash, Deku?” Bakugo asked with his permanent scowl that seemed to appear whenever Izuku was in his sight.

“Y-yeah, hold on…” Izuku replied, searching through his yellow backpack and pulling out a roll of bills. Bakugo snatched it from his hand and they both walked into the shadowy alley. “Um… Kacchan?”

“What?!” He said snappily.

“I think you should have worded that better. People could get the wrong idea.” Izuku said warily. The blonde only clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Then let them assume. As if they’d find something like that on the next number one hero.” He huffed with the arrogance that Izuku was too familiar with.

“O-ok!”

They came upon the unremarkable entrance that had the most remarkable chef behind it and the duo walked in.

The first thing Izuku was the cheerful blonde girl skipping towards them with energy. A waitress? In this barren restaurant? Ah… he didn’t mean to insult Owner Bu’s business like that.

The first thing Bakugo saw was the black-haired guy chilling by the table in the corner who subtly inspected them. Fucking scarface, you ain’t slick. And holy hell those are a lot of scars, dude looked like a damn villain but apparently he wasn’t supposed to judge a book by its cover. Oh and that creepy bitch was coming towards them.

“Welcome to Fang Fang’s Little Store! What would you like to order?” She asked enthusiastically. As few as the customers may be, Toga didn’t really feel bored staying in the restaurant for most of the day. She had Dabi to talk to and sometimes even Owner Bu had time for conversations (no matter how one-sided they may be). She very much enjoyed smelling Owner Bu’s cooking practice, but Dabi couldn’t quite say the same, claiming that he didn’t like getting, in his own words, ‘blue-balled’ by food he could not eat.

Bakugo did a double take at hearing the first part. “What the fuck kind of name is-”

“We’ll have just one bowl of Egg-Fried for the both of us!” Izuku quickly interrupted, not wanting to offend the chef because of Bakugo’s eccentric behavior. Toga raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them with intrigue. Then her grin became a bit smug as she shot a knowing look their way.

Izuku didn’t know what that meant but he had a feeling he should correct her on something… and Bakugo would have definitely picked up on her hint if he wasn’t silently mulling over the restaurant’s terrible name with a face full of confusion.

The girl went off to relay the order to Bu Fang and both of them took their seats on a table. Bakugo and Dabi were having something akin to a glaring contest to see which one of them can pick apart the other’s personality more with just their outward appearance. Izuku was just excited for the food.

“I would like an Egg-Fried Rice, girl.” That snapped the two out of their competition as a rather large man in a hoodie ordered deeply. His supposedly long sleeves were strangely tattered on their ends and only reached to his elbows.

As Toga went to inform Bu Fang, her smile changed ever so slightly. Dabi sat straighter and put his guard up, discreetly examining the newcomer. Bakugo did the same. Izuku felt tension in the air and wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.

Most of the uneasiness ebbed away after a few minutes of anxious silence when the dishes were prepared. Two bowls of Egg-Fried Rice were placed atop a tray for Toga to serve. There was actually a third bowl but it was empty. For the two sharers then.

After serving the dishes, Izuku and Bakugo split the rice in half the best they could. Toga would have gave a teasing remark if it wasn’t for the guy in the hoodie who was quietly but quickly gobbling down his food. Even with the quirk-suppressing cuffs, instincts beckoned the two villains to prepare for a bloody brawl.

And boy were they expecting one.

Finishing his food, the man slammed the bowl down on the table loudly, garnering the attention of the two middle-schoolers and bringing back the tense atmosphere.

“Good, good!” He bellowed without regard to his image and demanded, “Call the chef out, girl. I want to talk to him.”

Toga kept her smile but her eyes reflected something eerie which deeply unsettled Bakugo and Izuku. “Sorry Mr. Customer, but what are your intentions with Owner Bu?”

“I want to make an offer…” The man started, slowly standing up and broadening his shoulders to display his full frame to intimidate an unimpressed Toga. A dreadful aura suffused into the store, almost making the two middle-schoolers forget to breathe.  “And have him work under me and my men as our chef.”

No one in the room was fooled. It was not an offer.

“Ah… I see.” Toga tilted her head cutely and put her hands behind her back, unaffected by the aura. “Then I’ll say it for my boss. No .”

And she lunged, knife in hand, a scene that was similar to what happened merely two days ago.

Dabi stood up swiftly, his chair making a ruckus from the friction against the floor. Bakugo cursed. Izuku observed with wide eyes. The knife…

Did not hit its mark.

It was buried in a coat of thick quills, courtesy of the man whose forearms were completely enshrouded by long and sharp spines. Well, that explained the sleeves.

The large villain gave a feral grin and growled, “You’re a few decades too young to match up against me, girl .”

Dabi pulled Toga away right before the man flexed his arms, shooting several quills forward like a volley of arrows. He pointed a fist towards the two, treating his arm like a loaded gun. “Call the chef out, will you?”

Dabi glowered at him, wishing the cuff attached to his wrist wasn’t there. Toga was feeling particularly murderous. A voice stopped them in their tracks.

“No need. I’ve heard the situation.” Bu Fang stepped into the fray fearlessly, giving the two villains a once-over. His eyebrows creased in slight worry. If not for Dabi, the girl could have been seriously injured.

“My offer still stands, little chef. Work under me and everyone lives.” The man demanded with the spines on his arm vibrating threateningly.

Izuku had to cover his mouth to stop himself from going on a tangent about the large villain’s quirk. Bakugo was accumulating sweat on his palms on his seat for the fight, quirk laws be damned.

“Your offer… poses as much significance to me as an unfunny joke. You are from now on blacklisted from my store.” Bu Fang’s words held no worry about his own well-being, as if there was no reason for him to get worried.

The man was silent for a moment… before he chuckled oddly. “I see… in that case… since I can’t enjoy these dishes anymore… then no one can !”

“Owner Bu!” Izuku screamed in panic.

The quills were like the shrapnel of a shotgun shell, shooting forward to puncture anything in its way full of holes. It had to be known that the villain had thought quite far ahead about the future of the restaurant. If such delicacies could be sold with money, there’s nothing stopping other villains or even Pro-Heroes from obtaining the dishes’ benefits. He just didn’t think enough about the chef himself and his backing.

“Troublemakers…”

Thunk! Thunk!

“Who are blacklisted…”

The quills bounced off Whitey’s metallic body. The robot snapped the one it caught in its hand with a loud crack .

“Who show killing intent towards the chef…”

Whitey’s eyes flickered red.

“Will be punished severely.”

Its eyes glowed a menacing scarlet.

Whitey’s aura suddenly became extremely imposing and truly intimidating. It launched itself at the offender who could only defend himself by raising his arms. The robot punched with much force, splitting many long spines and potentially breaking the villain’s arm, but they couldn’t confirm that over the crackling of breaking quills.

He was sent flying with that single strike and Dabi and Toga sucked in a breath of cold air through their teeth. Whitey was quite merciful dealing with them…

The villain’s body collided with the wall of the opposite building painfully and Whitey took the chance to put on a quirk-suppressing cuff on him. The man gasped for breath for a few moments before pushing himself up without using his arms and he limped away with a string of curses under his breath.

Under the diners’ flabbergasted stares, Whitey bumped its fist up in the air in triumph and returned inside the restaurant.

“Whitey, you’re so strong!” Toga cooed and got up close to the robot which could only scratch its round head in confusion. Dabi sighed a mixture of relief and exasperation, looking at the plump Whitey that could probably win in a fight against most Pro-Heroes.

“A-a support robot? Belonging to a civilian? No, wait, licenses for that exist. But one so strong and also intelligent to that extent? Which support company could have made it? And how did it end up in the hands of Owner Bu?” Izuku went to his usual mutter spree and apparently the only sane one here was Bakugo.

“Yo, what the FUCK happened?” Asking the real question that should be asked, Bakugo’s smoldering palms gradually cooled down along with his adrenaline.

Bu Fang only shrugged nonchalantly. “If the enemy you face is too strong, then there’s nothing wrong with counting on external help.”

Izuku raised his head at that. Bakugo brooded over those words.

The two diners finished up and paid for their meals. Giran came in late evening before closing time to order an Egg-Fried Rice. He apologized for letting that large villain know about the restaurant despite being aware of the man’s attitude. Bu Fang waved it off and said the villain was blacklisted. Giran paid for his meal and left swiftly, as if busy.

…

In the dark of the night, Giran took several detours from one alley to the other. Soon enough, he walked upon a small group of curious villains crowding around the large man that could grow quills on his forearms. The quirk-suppressing cuff was there for all to see.

“What a humiliating sight… is this how you’ll fall from grace, Quiru?” Giran mocked. The man, upon hearing his name, turned his head at the approaching information broker and glared.

“It’s just this one tiny bracelet that’s not allowing me to use my quirk. Once I get rid of it, I’ll make sure they pay.” Quiru snarled as he gripped on the object tightly. Giran rose an eyebrow amusedly.

“Ah, yes, that ‘tiny bracelet’ that big shot Quiru couldn’t get rid of by himself.” He taunted with much enjoyment, intensifying the villain’s glare on him. “Well, whatever. Let’s take a look at what’s inside, shall we? Reiza.”

Reiza, a villain sitting by the sidelines got up and closed the distance between them and the cuff. “Alright, hold still, big guy.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you of all people? He chose your quirk to be best for the job?” Quiru said incredulously.

“What? You scared? I got good control over my quirk, dude.” Reiza huffed in irritation, pointing a finger at the cuff.

“You better not misfire, or else the first thing I do after it’s off is to turn you into a pincushion!”

“Now you’re just tempting me to misfire.”

“Hey, you better not-” A thin laser shot out from the tip of Reiza’s finger and the heat sizzled the cuff- “OI!”

“Wha- fuck-” He deactivated his quirk as Quiru almost yelped into his ear. “What the fuck?! What now, you fucking pussy?!”

“You burned me!” The large man yelled.

“I did fucking not!” Reiza pointed at the part of the cuff where the laser met. It was slightly smoking and burnt black. Other than that, there was no indication that the man was burnt. “Now hold still.”

“Sheesh, fine, but-”

Pss-

“HEY!”

“SON OF A-”

“A warning would have been nice!”

“OH MY FUCKING-”

And the two of them continued the screaming/bickering match until the very end, entertaining Giran and the other villains.

When they were finally done and the cuff had a thin but deep line from the laser-cutting burnt out of where it connected, the broker went up to pull it off the man’s wrist for inspection…

Only for it to break apart and fall on the floor in several pieces.

The area was silent for a moment. Eyes turned to the one who worked hardest. The one with the laser quirk slowly settled his gaze on the surprised looking man who was once cuffed.

Then Reiza, eyes bloodshot, aggressively pointed at Quiru.

“YOU!” He all but screeched in rage.

“Hey, it’s not my fault!” The large man raised his quill-coated forearms to defend himself.

“Now, now, that’s quite enough.” Giran interjected, raising his voice. “I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault here. Perhaps there was a mechanism that broke the cuff apart from the inside in case something like this happened.”

Reiza was breathing heavily. Quiru had the gall to look frustrated. Giran was crouched down, sifting through the fragments on the ground.

“Welp,” He stood up with a huff. “How unfortunate. Time to go home, people. Oh, and you, Quiru.”

“Hmm?”

“Since you’re blacklisted, I don’t want you going anywhere near the restaurant, you hear?”

“Hah?! Like hell I care about that. That chef has got to-”

Click.

A gun. Giran had a gun. Pointed at him.

“That wasn’t a request.” He said coldly.

Quiru’s face twisted in anger. “You… I know you’re not going to shoot me, Giran, so what? You gonna stop me every time I get close to that place?”

“Not just me.” The broker simply replied. “After all, if I were to announce that I owe the person who stopped you from taking revenge on that restaurant a favor…”

The villains suddenly became interested. Many of them stared at Quiru with malicious intent.

“You cannot be serious…” He glanced at Reiza.

“I’ll fucking burn your eyes off, motherfucker.” Reiza said with manic eyes.

How could either of them not know the value of having Giran himself owe a favor? As a big shot information broker of the underworld, he has a reputation to uphold and he needed to be able to keep his word, lest he loses face.

At this point, Quiru was practically shaking in fury.

“Fine.” He bit out venomously and left. The other villains eventually dispersed and there was only Giran left.

He pulled out a cigarette pack from his pocket and pulled a single cigarette between his lips. He pressed a button on his gun and a small flame lit up.

He stopped before the fire reached the stick. Giran appeared to be deep in thought.

Then he put down his gun and put back the cigarette in the pack with a sigh. The broker walked off into the night.

Chapter Text

“First requirement: Host must sample authentic Japanese cuisine and find flaws even its chef could not have expected.

Young man, use your fussy tongue to find fault in the new yet rapidly growing Immortal Sushi Restaurant.”

Bu Fang checked the amount of money he had earned and could spend so far in The System storage. It was not a small number and should be enough for the outing.

Finishing up his morning routine, Bu Fang went to the store’s entrance to feed Blacky and saw Toga and Dabi arriving.

“I’ve decided to close up for the morning. I’m going out to eat, would you like to accompany me?” Bu Fang asked casually.

“We, uh, may not have enough money…” Dabi trailed off awkwardly after the initial surprise, but Bu Fang only waved it off.

“It’s fine. I’ll pay for you two.” Now that surprised Dabi again.

“I don’t think it can even be compared to Owner Bu’s cooking, but sure I’ll follow!” Toga exclaimed excitedly.

Bu Fang gestured questioningly at a hesitant Dabi.

“I… don’t want to be a bother, with my appearance and all.” He said unsurely, staring down at the ground. The chef was reminded that Dabi was a villain.

Bu Fang made a sound of intrigue before asking, “Will you get recognized in public?”

“Um, civilians, probably not, but some Pro-Heroes might. Doesn’t help that I’m most likely already registered as a villain and they somehow have a recognisable picture of me.” Dabi replied with a hint of resignation. Bu Fang didn’t treat the matter as that big of a deal, however.

“Alright, wait a moment.” He said and slipped back in the store. The two villains waited outside awkwardly for about half a minute before Bu Fang returned with what seemed like a large piece of red cloth or whatever fabric.

“Here, a scarf.” He ungracefully dumped it on Dabi’s head. “I bought it because I thought I might have to use it for winter. You can use it for now.”

Dabi blinked, and then grasped slowly at the woolen piece of fabric. It was that dreadful shade of red, but…

He couldn’t bring himself to take it off.

“Knowing what weird things come from quirks, it shouldn’t be all that suspicious for wanting to cover your face.” Bu Fang continued.

“ … Thanks.” Dabi said eventually, taking off the scarf and running a hand through his unruly hair a few times to make his hair less recognizable. He put the scarf back on properly so it covered up to right below his eyes.

“Let’s go.” Said Bu Fang as he walked ahead of the two.

They soon descended to idle chatter with Bu Fang answering a few questions directed his way. The two villains couldn’t put their guards down completely, knowing that they were walking out in the open but it was definitely a break from their usual lives.

And both of them were thankful.

For Dabi, it would be the peacefulness of the restaurant that allowed him to put his guard down. The constant use of his quirk to protect himself had always left an itch on his skin, but with his quirk suppressed for about three days, he was free from the discomfort.

For Toga, it would be the fact that her craving for blood had somehow died down significantly whenever she was in the store. Whether it was the atmosphere of the interior or the food, her self-control had improved significantly.

They felt lucky to have come across Bu Fang, even if they had a minor conflict.

Arriving at Immortal Sushi Restaurant, the chef walked in with the confidence of a man who had dined in this place several times.

“Table for three.” He requested and soon the trio were able to find a table with the help of the receptionist.

Bu Fang took out a small notebook and pen from his pocket and handed it to Toga. “Write down my critiques for the dishes we are about to order. Then later, if needed, hand the criticism to the staff as apologies.”

Toga raised an eyebrow. “Apologies?”

Bu Fang didn’t answer. Dabi spoke up.

“Isn’t this place technically a rival restaurant? Why are you helping it improve?” He asked curiously. And with indifference true to Bu Fang’s nature, he replied.

“We can never be seen as rivals, because the type of people I aim to serve… are not the common diners.”

Dabi held back a snort. Trust Owner Bu to say such a cocky line with a straight face. But he wasn’t wrong. It would be impossible to get to his level with just some criticism.

Cryptid of the cooking world Bu Fang, goals unknown, origins unknown. Dabi never asked about it but Owner Bu didn’t seem like one to hide many things.

Or maybe he was just that good at lying.

Dabi cleared those unnecessary thoughts out of his head. There was no need for those for this occasion. He ordered cold Soba and Toga for some reason didn’t order anything. When he asked about it, she gave a knowing grin.

Except he didn’t ‘know’ what that implied.

Until Bu Fang ordered a lot of dishes. Like, a lot . The waitress was taking it quite well. Must have witnessed someone with a type of quirk that involved eating a lot of food before. Right after the waitress left them be, Bu Fang immediately pointed at the notebook.

“The soap they used to mop the floor likely not long before opening is too fragrant. It will affect the taste testing.” He said without room for argument. The two villains were taken aback for a moment before they subtly took a deep breath. True to his words, there was the distinct smell of a recently mopped floor, except it probably wasn’t as recent as it should have been.

It was so unnoticeable both of them almost dismissed it as just their imagination. Dabi was tempted to ask about how bad it could be, but seeing Owner Bu looking a little dissatisfied and Toga writing the criticism down so seriously, Dabi decided against it.

Soon enough, the first dish was served. The tempura seemed appetizing enough, all fried and crispy. Bu Fang took in the smell before picking one up and dipping it in a sauce that came with the dish. He took a bite… and frowned. He finished that piece of prawn but made no move to eat another, instead opting to drink the complimentary tea to wash the inside of his mouth. Toga had already eaten half of them at this point, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk as she awaited Owner Bu’s evaluation.

He opened his mouth.

“There was too much batter, and even that had too much flour added into it. It also lacked crispiness. The prawn itself was rubbery, which means it was overcooked. The sauce is either too sweet or lacking in salt, and the sweetness did not come from sugar but some other ingredient. A little less of that and the sauce would have been fine. The prawns were also just past their prime, with a hint of a fishy taste in them. I give a poor rating”

Dabi managed to stop his jaw from hanging open. Toga wrote everything down with an affirmative hum as if there wasn’t at least three pieces of tempura in her mouth.

He took a piece for himself and dipped it in the sauce to take a bite out of curiosity.

And it wasn’t bad.

The hell? Dabi chewed slower. It’s true it was not very crispy but everything else tasted fine… He didn’t accidentally burn off his taste buds with his quirk, did he? He dismissed the thought with a look at Toga’s direction.

This poor restaurant was unfortunate enough to be tested with Bu Fang’s standards… at least something good will come out of it.

Then came the other dishes… now Dabi was just absent-mindedly chewing on his cold soba as Bu Fang mercilessly pointed out flaws in each dish.

Two different types of sobas, two types of yakitori, a Japanese curry dish, two types of tonkatsu. So many dishes Bu Fang had barely taken more than one bite of. Toga was obediently writing down his words as she helped herself to the unfinished food. Of course, no matter how much of a glutton she was, she couldn’t finish all of them alone so Toga only took a few bites of each dish and moved on to the next.

But when it came down to the truly harsh assessments… the previous few were let off light.

An udon dish and a ramen dish. Truly the most pitiful of the bunch. Despite the recipes being Japanese, both ramen and udon had a long history in both Chinese and Japanese culture. How could Bu Fang let them off easy?

“Hey, Owner Bu, aren’t you being a bit too strict? It still tastes good, right?” Toga asked, tilting her head.

"Culinary is particular about rigorousness. Any oversight or mistake will affect the taste of the food! All of these dishes present at least one ‘major’ flaw that pulls my ratings down.” The chef replied sternly.

At one point a waitress asked if there was anything wrong with the dishes, to which Toga told her to wait until Owner Bu was finished judging every dish. The waitress very understandably stiffened in horror at the implication. A surprise food critic? She took her leave and none of them cared if she told anyone.

The final dish was, surprisingly, unadon.

Bu Fang took a whiff of the grilled eel atop the white rice. He took a small bite and chewed on the eel with rice. Then he reached out for another bite.

Toga’s head tilted up so quickly from looking over the notes that there was a very audible crack that came from her neck. Dabi internally rejoiced.

From under the table, Toga handed Dabi 500 yen for losing the bet.

The unadon was the only dish Bu Fang actually finished eating. His comment?

“I am not the most experienced person when it comes to cooking eel. All I can say about it is that it tasted quite nice. My only complaint is that the rice should be steamed with a little less water, but that’s just my personal preference.”

“Aww, I couldn’t even take a single bite out of the dish that Owner Bu approved of.” Toga childishly pouted.

Bu Fang stared at her for a moment before something flashed in his eyes and he seemed to have resolved himself for something. He took the notebook off Toga’s hands and handed it to the tense waitress that wiped the sweat off her brow with a handkerchief. She was momentarily startled when she realized the ‘critic’ was handing her something and she took it with uneasiness.

“It’s up to your chefs if they want to believe what is written inside. Other than that, I don’t care.” He told her and the waitress could only nod in reply.

As Bu Fang paid for the dishes at the counter, he kept his face indifferent, but in truth his heart was bleeding when he heard the cost.

He’ll just… earn it back… yeah.

“First requirement fulfilled.

Second requirement: Host must choose and recreate one item from their menu and its final product must be a league higher than what host had eaten. The System will only provide ordinary fresh ingredients.”

They returned to the restaurant and Bu Fang opened it for business. Since there were no customers, they chilled for the rest of the day.

Eventually, the skies were colored with the shade of dusk. There was still some time before Bu Fang closed up for the day, and since the two villains were still here, he wanted to prepare a little something.

“System, prepare some eel for me.” He asked, measuring the amount of rice he wanted to steam by his own estimation.

Indeed, of all dishes Bu Fang could have picked to add in his menu… he chose the most difficult one!

To be able to improve the unadon by a league when he himself couldn’t identify many flaws, that is just what being a chef is to him!

Bu Fang prepared all the necessary ingredients and began cooking.

Outside the kitchen the villainous duo were playing a game of chess on a board Dabi found a while ago while dumpster diving and forgot about it. He was getting bored and remembered he had something like this so he brought it with him for no real reason. Surprisingly, Toga accepted to play a match, which led to this current situation.

“Checkmate!” Toga said loudly as she moved her knight forward, winning the game. Dabi was hiding it well, but clearly he didn’t expect himself to lose against her of all people.

“ … How the hell.” He directed a lazy glare at Toga. “I fucking hate knights. Never learned how to counter them. Never bothered to learn.”

“Dabi, you shouldn’t make excuses for you blunders!” She playfully chided. “You needed to keep challenging your brain strategically so your skills don’t rust!”

“I’ve literally never seen you do anything close to ‘challenging’ your brain in the entirety of the time I’ve known you.”

Toga smiled mysteriously and Dabi did not want to ask. Well, he didn’t need to ask anyway.

“If you must know-” She stopped herself. Her eyebrows shot up. Light reflected off her eyes as if she were wearing glasses. Now Toga’s entire body shot up.

“Owner Bu Approved Unadon™!” She blurted out. Dabi had one fear.

“How did you pronounce that-” Toga cut him off.

“I can smell it! Owner Bu is cooking up something good!”

That’s when he smelled it. It wasn’t as strong as Bu Fang’s other dishes but it was pleasant all the same.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, Bu Fang came out of the kitchen holding two bowls of unadon that looked just like the one from Immortal Sushi Restaurant. “Have a taste.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Toga grabbed a bowl with both hands once it was placed on the table. To Dabi’s surprise, the other bowl was for him.

“I uh, don’t like fish.” He said awkwardly. Bu Fang pushed the bowl towards him anyway.

“Eels are different compared to most fish. Paired with the sauce, you might taste something you like.” He told Dabi.

And Owner Bu wasn’t wrong.

As they bit into the perfectly grilled eel and the exquisite rice grains, all they could think of was:

As expected of Owner Bu!

The two instinctively knew it was prepared with normal ingredients, but that was just a testament to Bu Fang’s ability. Finishing their surprise dinner, they thanked him.

“It’s really good.” Said Dabi. Who knew fish could taste so good?

“But not good enough.” Bu Fang muttered to himself as he cleared the table.

“The host’s first attempt at recreating and improving the dish has failed.” The System’s solemn voice had sounded.

He sighed to himself. It seemed like this exact moment was when his journey truly began.

Chapter Text

Eraserhead was going undercover today.

Sort of.

It started with Present Mic loudly gossiping about supposed villain sightings in the area. Now, one would think spreading rumors in UA’s damn teacher’s lounge would be something highly discouraged or a cause for reprimandation.

They would be right.

It’s just that one might forget to account for Present Mic’s nature. No, not that he was loud.

But the fact that he was a Pro-Hero and UA alumni. For the voice/radio hero himself to start ‘casually’ spouting about simple ‘sightings’, it was definitely a cause for well-hidden concern.

Then, when Present Mic spoke for long enough, Eraserhead inquired about the location of the sightings. And what do you know?

It’s that shady restaurant in that alley where he caught the Trigger users. That investigation ended up as a bust pretty quickly, by the way.

Due to an unspoken rule, the little inspection mission would be handled by only Eraserhead and Present Mic only, since the underground hero was the one who asked about it first. And since he was, after all, an underground hero, Eraserhead was obviously going to be the one spearheading the unofficial information-gathering mission. Plus the fact that it wasn’t long ago he expelled all of the first years.

Was it legal?

Well… as long as he didn’t act out of line, it wouldn’t be illegal.

Was this how Pro-Heroes worked?

Probably not, but UA teachers were just like that. It’s been a while since the last time someone applied and successfully became a teacher there after all, and the current ones became sort of a tight-knit group.

So here he was, wearing casual, long hair tied into a ponytail with his eyes eternally seeking the sweet release of sleep. His go-to civilian look.

Aizawa peered into the dark alleyway from the sidewalk and walked towards the little store that didn’t even have a signboard, counting his steps. The air became a tad bit chillier as he entered the shadowy area unaffected by the Sun.

No capture weapon, no costume… he dared say this little tradition was when he was most irrational.

But hell would Aizawa be lying if that didn’t smell amazing even from here.

… He skipped breakfast. Hizashi would have his head.

Whatever, he’d just have to deal with it when the time came. Aizawa eyed the snoozing black dog by the store’s entrance.

“It’s still here? Wouldn’t it scare off potential customers?” He mused to himself quietly. Not paying attention to Blacky anymore, Aizawa entered the restaurant.

And was immediately hit with wave of coziness. If he wasn’t so on guard, the hero genuinely believed he would have immediately blacked out from sleepiness and slept right in suspicious territory. After all, it was early in the morning and he had ended his patrols a short while ago.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes briefly. Illegal quirk use? Only then did he notice two individuals in his peripheral vision seated occupying a table by the corner and… playing chess?

The girl with disastrous blonde hair and visibly sharper canines turned to his direction just as the teen with messy black hair made his move. Aizawa was momentarily reminded of Vlad King’s fangs.

Cat-like irises met his and he couldn’t help but feel a tad bit unsettled. This was not a normal girl.

“Ooh! A customer! Looks like we’ll play later, Dabi!” She said, standing up from her seat. The fingers of Dabi’s hand that was resting on the table twitched slightly.

“I… guess it’s a draw, then.” Before he could clear the board, the girl’s head snapped back to the game.

“Oh yeah!” She moved a knight piece. “There we go, checkmate!”

Dabi breathed sharply. “Motherfu-”

“So what would you like to order, mister?” And she was already in front of the undercover hero.

Aizawa blinked. This girl covered the distance between them too easily. And now he’d taken in the other teen’s appearance, that was an abnormal amount of scars. So far, nothing in this place was normal.

As if that didn’t set off enough warning bells in his head, the contents of the menu proved to be the nail on the coffin. Probably his coffin.

Aizawa felt like he walked into a money-laundering scheme… what are those prices?! Is he a witness to this? Will the higher ups have to take him out or something?

At this point the paranoia combined with his lack of sleep had the hero staring blankly at the menu board, buried in thoughts. Toga, deciding to roll with it, simply waited for him to finish whatever trance he was in with Dabi in the background clearing the board and muttering a string of curses.

That was until an irresistible aroma spread from the kitchen, rousing Aizawa out of his sleep-deprived line of thinking.

It smelled… really good.

Oh no. He already regrets coming here.

His stomach rumbled, and Toga heard it loud and clear. Her grin widened and her feline eyes curled into crescents.

Aizawa had been had. He was at the point of no return now.

“One Egg-Fried Rice, please.” Because that fragrance definitely belonged to Egg-Fried Rice.

Aizawa swore to himself as he sat down, if the meal was not worth the price, he would request a raid on this little store. Charging those prices was already villainous enough. If it didn’t taste as good as it smelled, that would be the last straw.

That’s assuming if this restaurant was even legitimate.

At least the ambiance was calming. Someone’s using their quirk right.

Deciding to scope out potential villains, he inspected the two other people in the room. The teenager with black hair, Dabi. Those were burn scars and excessive piercings. Suspicious. The girl who looked like she belonged in middle school. Her eyes full of mischief showed no speck of innocence and she’s good at sneaking up on people. Suspicious. Aizawa was pretty sure they seemed familiar…

Wait. Familiar?

He racked his brain a bit but couldn’t quite find out how he somewhat recognized them both. That did not bode well. Lack of sleep does that to you, he inwardly mused.

There was also the chef, ‘Owner Bu’. Aizawa heard the girl referring to that name when she placed the order. Was there only one chef? What kind of person was he? Well damn is he doing a good job.

“Hm?” Only then did the undercover hero notice the young waitress coming towards him with a tray and porcelain bowl on top full of golden grains of rice that looked like they were emitting light.

She set down the bowl with a smile and said cheerfully, “Enjoy your meal!”

Oh he will, alright. Aizawa just hoped this wasn’t his last meal. The steam from the dish reminded him that he had dry eyes, but it might be rude to use eye drops in the restaurant. His eyes would have to wait.

He picked up the porcelain spoon and scooped up a spoonful of the fragrant Egg-Fried Rice. He took a bite.

And Eraserhead was conquered.

The next minute was a blur for him and when he finally came to, there was only an empty bowl in front of  him.

Shit! It was so good he somehow stopped feeling sleepy but he couldn’t fully savor it!

But if it was that good… does that mean this restaurant is genuine? Aizawa would never admit it, but he really hoped so. This would be a perfect place to treat himself. He also hoped that not many people learned of this place. There weren’t many seats here, after all.

… Huh. He halted his thoughts. Was Eraserhead feeling… selfish?

This place was more dangerous than he thought. He paid for the meal and left hurriedly.

The air outside was still cold and the contrasting temperatures between the restaurant and outdoors bit at his skin. Aizawa remembered something he was supposed to do.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and called Hizashi. Not before lowering the volume significantly.

“HEEEEY!” Present Mic’s voice blared from the phone’s speakers. “What tea didja find undercover, Shouta?”

Aizawa set the volume back to normal before replying. “This whole scenario is irrational and could probably strip someone of their hero license.”

Ignoring the deadpan voice, Hizashi urged him. “Got it! The findings? Verdict??”

The more tired of the two sighed. “The food… is really good. Probably the best I’ve ever eaten.”

“WHAAAT?!” Aizawa winced and regretted not staying with the smaller volume. “The Eraserhead eating food in a shady place? I get that you were going undercover, but that’s some way to blend in!”

“It’s not that shady. As far as I could see, the only activity going on in the area was that small restaurant with only about three staff members. Other than that, the buildings near the restaurant were pretty much abandoned. Don’t know why. I guess I can understand why there may be villains coming here.”

“Hmm… backtrack a lil’ bit. You said the food was probably the best you’ve eaten?” Hizashi asked curiously. What a surprise.

“Yes, that’s what I said. Still quite expensive.” Aizawa said honestly before his tone became serious. “But the place is not normal. Don’t eat there until I confirm my suspicions”

“Is that so~? So you aren’t just saying that to keep the restaurant all to yourself?”

“I’ve said all I can. It’s up to you if you want to listen.” He hung up with a huff.

Then he dialed another number.

“You have directly called the Hero Public Safety Commission, Japan Headquarters. What is your designation?” A professional tone of voice said from the phone.

Aizawa answered, “Designation: Pro-Hero. Hero Name: Eraserhead.”

Tapping of keyboard keys could be heard from the other end before the person asked, “What is the purpose of your call?”

“Request to view the registered villains up to…” He paused for a moment to think. “C-Rank.”

“Level of urgency?”

Level of urgency? Aizawa pondered briefly. He wasn’t completely sure the restaurant staff were villains but they definitely weren’t average civilians. But seeing how laidback they were, he figured that it probably wasn’t as bad as he was exaggerating it to Hizashi.

“Not very urgent, I guess.” He said finally. With some more tapping of keys, the person on the Commission’s end responded.

“Your request has been forwarded to the superiors of the Commission. Expect a reply in about half an hour.” And they hung up.

Aizawa finally put the phone back in his pocket. He felt a headache coming on. This whole ‘case’ is probably going to be a lot more troublesome than he had anticipated. He pulled out a small bottle of eyedrops from his other pocket only to notice.

His eyes felt nowhere near as dry as they were before.

On Bu Fang’s end, though…

The chef looked into space with bewilderment because of a System message.

“Complete hidden mission requirement: Serve food to a Pro-Hero. Mission reward: Recipe for Improved Egg-Fried Rice.” The solemn voice of The System rung inside his head.

A Pro-Hero? In this establishment? And they didn’t make a scene? But honestly, Bu Fang cared more about the mission reward.

“Improved Egg-Fried Rice? Isn’t it just Egg-Fried Rice again? What’s so special about the improved version?” He was a little disappointed.

"The improved version of Egg-Fried Rice is a higher grade than ordinary Egg-Fried Rice and uses different ingredients. Diners that don’t fulfill a strength quota are not allowed to eat this dish.” It explained.

A strength quota? He supposed that it made sense. With the improved version having likely the same amount of rice, the ingredients’ quality must have so much effect that there may be some who may not be able to take it.

“Does Toga fulfill the quota?” Asked Bu Fang.

A few seconds passed before The System answered back. “Yes, if only just barely.”

“Well, no time like the present.” Bu Fang said to himself as he twirled the knife in his hand. “Those two are in for a treat.”

Only when the burst of aroma made it outside the kitchen did Toga and Dabi realize something was up.

“Strong. Way stronger than the normal Egg-Fried Rice.” Was the only thing Dabi could say to Toga who had already lost her senses. Both of the villains stared at the entrance to the kitchen and Bu Fang walked out with three bowls of Improved Egg-Fried Rice.

“Improved Egg-Fried Rice.” The chef stated as he put down the bowls. “A new dish.”

“H-how much is it?” Toga asked, wiping the drool from her chin. Dabi did the same. Bu Fang only pointed at the menu board.

They looked at it.

And almost choked on their own saliva.

Improved Egg-Fried Rice: 20,000 yen.

“Enjoy. I won’t always treat you like this.” They turned back to Bu Fang to see him already beginning to eat with much vigor.

The two villains’ eyes met. This was going to be a trip.

So they took their first bite. And it was divine .

At one point Toga got a nosebleed from excessive nutrition, but that was a small matter.

No wonder The System said she had only barely met the quota.

Chapter Text

There was a sense of deja vu going on in Bu Fang’s little store.

“I’m ordering takeout on Giran’s request!” A boot-licking excuse of a villain claimed, demanding takeout. Bu Fang was out of the kitchen this time to tell him that the restaurant didn’t sell takeout dishes. Yet.

Bu Fang was expressionless as he indifferently replied, "Our store's rules are: takeout is forbidden; each customer can order each dish only once per day; creating a disturbance is forbidden; queue jumping is forbidden.”

The man clearly didn’t get the memo. “Just put it in a box! What’s with all this nonsense?”

“Are you trying to cause trouble?” Bu Fang said with a frown, looking at the increasingly agitated man.

“Trouble?! I’ll show you trouble!” He barked out, reaching for a chair with the intention of smashing up the store. Immediately, a certain robot announced its presence from the kitchen.

“Troublemakers will be denied of their quirks for a week as an example to others.” Whitey said before trotting forward threateningly with quick steps. The villain let out a high-pitched yelp at the sight, his quirk bubbling in his throat in instinct.

Then he… spat. A spitball. A really big spitball. It landed right on Whitey’s foot.

The two people in the sidelines looked vaguely surprised. Bu Fang did not hide his disgust.

Then Whitey halted in its tracks. Its round head turned towards its feet.

The robot was stuck. It was a sticky spitball. What a quirk.

The instigator of this whole thing quickly recovered from his surprise and he sneered. “Hah! Not so tough are you-”

Before he got socked in the face by Dabi.

“Beware of your surroundings, dumbass. What are you, a rookie villain?” Dabi mocked. He didn’t need his quirk to deliver a good punch. And Toga could already hit pretty hard, since her quirk didn’t really help with that.

As evident by the very well placed kick to the villain’s family jewels. Dabi winced. The corners of Bu Fang’s lips curled upwards. The poor guy crumpled to the ground making a sound similar to a deflating balloon.

Just another day in Fang Fang’s Little Store.

The villain was tossed out of the restaurant, courtesy of Dabi. Bu Fang convinced Whitey to not waste its time by cuffing ‘a nobody that did not pose a real threat.’

But seeing Whitey’s moment of weakness, the chef had to ask The System. “Whitey is quite strong, but that’s not quite enough to deal with certain unique quirks. Surely it should be equipped to deal with these types of opponents?”

“Whitey’s strength is based on the number of missions the host has completed and the significance of each mission.” The System explained.

Huh. He had barely completed a few missions, with many of them of hidden status. Currently, if All Might attempted to ‘enact justice’ upon his little store, even Whitey would be helpless.

The System said to him calmly, “There's no need for the host to worry. Whitey is not the last line of defense. However, the host would still need to work hard to complete missions to increase Whitey’s combat prowess. In the face of absolute strength, not many quirks will be able to compete, no matter how unique or versatile.”

With some effort and moments they would rather forget, the mess on the floor was cleaned up. Before the villain duo could set up for a game of chess, a person entered the store.

Blonde hair styled into a bun, wearing glasses and sporting a friendly grin, Yamada Hizashi took in the restaurant’s ambiance.

Yeah, that was not natural but damn it felt great.

“What are you ordering, mister?” Toga jumped at the opportunity to serve. Hizashi could clearly see why Shouta thought nothing here was normal, but screw that, he was here to eat!

“I would like-” His gaze drifted to the menu and he stopped. After fishing out some more details from Shouta, apparently he had ordered Egg-Fried Rice that had cost 5,000 yen. Initially, Hizashi wanted to order the same thing…

But it seemed there was something… new. He sucked in a breath of cold air.

Improved Egg-Fried Rice: 20,000 yen.

This was going to be a hell of a ride.

And he was going to be in every step of the way.

“Improved Egg-Fried Rice!” Hizashi almost screamed.

Now, Shouta did tell him that he shouldn’t come here until the underground hero investigated this place a bit more, but Hizashi just couldn’t wait! How good could the food be if it was the best thing Shouta’s ever eaten?

So here he was, taking a seat on a table in anticipation. And it seemed he would be eating with company.

“Hm? A new item? So expensive, too…” A new voice entered his ears and Hizashi turned his head.

Giran squinted a bit at the price of the new dish and ultimately decided to treat himself. “Toga-chan, I would like to have the Improved Egg-Fried Rice.”

“Oh? Can you even afford it, mister?” Toga giggled and said mischievously.

“Ah, your words hurt me, Toga-chan.” Giran replied without losing his smirk. “Just who do you think I am?”

He sat down at a table right next to Hizashi’s. They made eye contact. “First time here?”

“Ah… yes! I’m quite curious about this little restaurant!” Said Hizashi, almost at a loss looking at the newcomer’s appearance. The man looked a bit familiar, but like Aizawa, he couldn’t tell where he’d seen the man’s face.

“In that case, I should tell you that you shouldn’t be intimidated by the prices. Owner Bu always delivers a worthwhile product.” Giran proudly advised like someone who had experience in dining here. He was the closest thing to the restaurant’s regular, after all.

“Thanks for the assurance, sir!” Hizashi said happily, but he was tensing up in the inside. Oh my god! That was Giran! Information broker of the underworld and… C-Rank villain! If Shouta was here, he would have instantly recognized the man.

He wanted to jump into action, but there were too many unknown variables. There was a chance that the other two people in the little store were also villains and he didn’t know if they knew how to fight. There was also the mysterious chef.

He couldn’t help but wonder… did Giran already know of his identity? Oh hell no. Hizashi should have listened to Shouta. Now he wanted to go home.

“You need to relax a little, my friend. What’s got you so shaken up?” The broker asked, and Hizashi could only curse himself for not being able to school his features very well.

“Uh- well, It’s just that…” He carefully thought of an excuse. The best lies were the ones that had a bit of truth in them, right? “I’ve heard rumors about this place.”

Giran let out a hum. “They are just rumors, don’t worry. I assure you, any unsavory individual that steps foot here are immediately taken care of. All you need to do is just enjoy your meal.”

“And anyone who would dare to cause trouble will have to face Whitey!” Toga chimed in cheerily. Present Mic memorized the name ‘Whitey’.

Giran eyed him with a raised eyebrow. “If you still feel uncomfortable, just wait until it hits you.”

“Until what hits me?” Hizashi asked confusedly.

Then it did.

And boy did it hit him hard .

…

Aizawa skimmed through the profiles of registered C-Rank villains in Japan. So far, he had found no one similar to the teenagers in the restaurant, but he trusted his gut feeling so he kept searching. Whenever he wasn’t dealing with patrols or UA, he spent his time looking through the archive after he had gotten permission to access it for 24 hours.

But even after this long of searching, the underground hero still couldn’t find what he was looking for.

“Shit… were they really not villains?” He mumbled to himself. In the end, it was just a hunch. He could have been simply accusing people of crimes they had never done.

Then it clicked. And his body shot up.

“B-Rank. Patchwork skin. B-Rank. Blonde hair, middle-schooler appearance.” Aizawa paled slightly. He was in the presence of two B-Rank villains and didn’t get attacked. He quickly called the Commission and asked to access the archive of B-Rank villains, this time detailed as ‘very urgent’. He needed confirmation before arranging a raid.

Aizawa grimaced. He really wished he could eat there again, but he was a hero and he couldn’t let any villain run loose, no matter how inactive they were. It was such a shame.

But first he needed to contact Hizashi.

…

“So then I said, ‘Peace and quiet? I don’t know her!’” Hizashi laughed loudly at his own story alongside with Toga and Giran. Even Dabi was chuckling not-so-subtly.

“Your highschool days must have been quite eventful.” Said Giran, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye with a grin.

“Oh, you have no idea, sir.” Hizashi commented off-handedly.

Toga giggled, “I liked it when you dragged your friend off somewhere, saying you were going home for a study session, but it was actually an arcade center.”

“And then he actually beat you in all the games out of spite.” Dabi snickered before they all devolved into laughing again.

The bowls on their tables had not even a single grain of rice left. The moment Hizashi took a gander at the dish, the beauty and fragrance had instantly melted the last bit of the anxious air around him. Both he and Giran were served their dishes at the same time, so they both had their first experience with the new dish together like brothers in arms as they downed their Improved Egg-Fried Rice.

The dopey grin on Toga’s face and Dabi’s expression of longing whenever they looked at the dish was already a sign of its excellence. Yet they still were not prepared for it.

Now content and full of energy, the restaurant’s inhabitants were chatting with each other like they were friends.

“It’s been quite a while since anyone had made me laugh out loud like that. I must express my gratitude.” Thanked Giran before he glanced at his watch. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay any longer. I have business to attend to. Thank you for the meal.”

He nodded towards the kitchen and stood up to leave. Both diners had already paid the expensive price of 20,000 yen.

“It’s quite late for me too, so I’ll see myself out.” Hizashi also stood up from his seat and they both exited the little store.

“Goodbye! We hope to see you again!” Toga waved enthusiastically and Giran raised an arm to wave it without looking back.

Hizashi took the route to the right, which led to the open area from the alley. Giran took the other route, which led to other complex alleyways and isolated spaces between the tall buildings.

“It was a pleasure to dine with you, Present Mic.”

Hizashi froze, and whipped his head behind him. Giran was already gone. Only then did he realize what had transpired.

Shouta needed to know this. He pulled out his phone and before he could unlock it, the device received a call and vibrated. Hizashi fumbled with the phone a bit before identifying the contact. It was the person he was just about the call. He picked it up hurriedly.

“Hizashi.” The voice from the other end could not disguise its agitation. “B-Rank villains.”

“W-what?” He had an inkling of an idea of what Shouta was talking about, but wanted to confirm.

“The two waiters. Employees. Teenagers. Whatever. Both of them are B-Rank villains.” Hizashi’s blood ran cold.

“Sh-Shouta.”

“What?”

“I just ate there.”

“You WHAT?!” Shouta exclaimed loudly.

“Wait, let me finish! I also saw that C-Rank villain, the information broker… Giran, is it?” Hizashi said finally.

Shouta audibly fumed on the other end. “Why did you even go there in the first place after a warned you?”

“Well… you said it served probably the best dishes you’ve ever eaten, so…” Hizashi’s voice lowered into a whisper. “I can see why you think that.”

Shouta groaned in exasperation. “Whatever, I’ve confirmed their identities and opened a raid group in the Commission forums. Now I’m just waiting for any other Pro-Hero with enough free time to join.”

“Oh right, there’s another detail I should mention.” Hizashi said seriously.

“ … What is it?”

“There’s another person in the store who may or may not be the chef or owner. They go by the name ‘Whitey’. I’ve heard one of the villains say that Whitey deals with any troublemakers… so a powerful trump card of sorts.” He informed.

“Right, I’ll be sure to add that. Now get your ass back to UA.”

“Whatever you say, Shouta!”

…

“Complete hidden mission requirement: Earned a sum of 50,000 yen in your entire career. Mission reward: Recipe for Fish Tri-Cooking.” Said The System.

Bu Fang was currently looking through the new cupboards that contained the fishes for the new menu items. As a chef, he was familiar with cooking fish and knew that it was an excellent ingredient. Different types of fish could be used to produce different types of gourmet food.

The System had informed him that the Fish Tri-Cooking was simply three different ways to cook fish.

"For the Lees Fish cooking method, the best rice wine distillers grains will be provided everyday. However, the host has to manually marinate the fish," The System told him. After all, the key to making Lees Fish was the alcohol. An extremely strong and mellow wine must be used. Only then would the aroma of the wine permeate into the fish during the marinating process.

Fish Head Tofu Soup was an unusual home-cooked dish. However, cooking the dish was still not an issue for Bu Fang.

The first two methods were familiar to Bu Fang, but the third, Unagi Nigiri, was an authentic Japanese recipe as far as he knew.

This meant that he could test out the grilling the eel in the recipe of Unagi Nigiri and apply the experience and knowledge to unadon.

Bu Fang twirled his knife and pulled out a nice piece of eel from the cupboard.

Indeed, perhaps that’s what he shall do.

“The host has completed his second hidden mission within 12 days of the business’s opening. My host, you’ve taken another step closer to becoming God of Cooking! Your earnings will only steadily increase with time. Work hard, young man!” The System congratulated solemnly.

Outside he could hear a shriek. “Holy shit! The three new menu items cost 30,000 yen each!.”

…

Aizawa was staring intently at his phone in UA’s teacher’s lounge. Present Mic was in the same room, marking assignments.

“Our… forum thread was taken down.” He said slowly. Present Mic looked up and blinked at him. “A hero joined the group… and took down the thread.”

Hizashi furrowed his brows. “Other than the Hero Commission staff, the only ones with enough power to shut down a forum thread are the top… ten… heroes…”

His facial expression morphed into shock and realization before he turned to Eraserhead. “Shouta… which Pro-Hero joined the raid?”

Aizawa finally tore his eyes away from his phone and he glanced at Present Mic.

“Hawks.”

Chapter Text

Immortal Sushi Restaurant.

Was what the signboard said. Aizawa was not impressed. Hizashi seemed mildly concerned.

“Discussing about a damn bust operation in a public space like this… the hell was he thinking?” Aizawa said to himself and Hizashi couldn’t help but agree. It was a wonder how the restaurant wasn’t crowded like hell with fans.

“Let’s just… enter and look for him. I don’t think Hawks would be so careless as to let anyone listen in on our conversation.” Hizashi suggested, already going in. Aizawa followed closely behind.

The interior was crowded and Aizawa’s irritation spiked at the number three hero’s disregard for confidentiality. Before they could begin looking for Hawks, both of them felt someone tapping on their shoulders and they turned around at the same time to see the man of the hour.

“Your civilian outfits are pretty good, but still easy enough to see through with reference to your hero getup.” Hawks commented with a lax smile. He was wearing his hero outfit which indicated that the hero was only taking a break from his patrol. He slightly brandished his easily recognizable scarlet wings. “Not like I can really judge, honestly.”

His appearance turned some heads and many people got up to try and get an autograph, but there was a circle of men in suits keeping the fans a distance away.

“Come on, I reserved a private room to talk. You can trust the guys in suits. They’re Hero Commission staff.” Hawks glanced at the two heroes as he walked forward in front of them. Aizawa and Hizashi shared a brief look before following the winged hero.

They arrived at another section of the restaurant that was devoid of diners save for the three. The tables were placed by a wall, with cushioned seats on either sides of the table. Hawks made his way to the last table at the end of the room.

“I reserved this whole wing because-” He cracked a grin as his voice lowered into a whisper. “We’re talkin’ ‘bout villains.”

Aizawa was not amused. Hizashi snorted.

“So anyways, let me order some stuff first.” Hawks turned to a very nervous waitress that looked like she was about to faint from excitement. “I want… every dish that’s been improved which has chicken.”

“E-every dish that’s been improved which has… chicken?” The waitress repeated and Hawks confirmed with a nod. The men in suits blocked off the area after she left to relay the order.

“We’re not here to eat. We’re here to discuss the raid.” Aizawa said in annoyance.

Hawks simply huffed through his nose. “Maybe you guys aren’t, but I am! I’m starved! I’ve been patrolling since, like, six in the morning or something. And I didn’t have breakfast since I overslept.”

Aizawa couldn’t really argue against that so he opted to just keep his silence. Eventually Hizashi spoke through the silence with a question. “What do you mean by ‘improved’ dishes?”

Hawks regained his smile at that. “See- well since the dishes are cooking, you wouldn’t mind if I tell it to you from the start, will ya? Right.”

He cleared his throat and took a breath. “So basically, I’m pretty sure this place is popular mostly because I came here during its opening. I mean, the food’s good and all, but there were a lot of places I could’ve gone instead. The only reason I ate was because I thought the name was pretty cool and I was expecting something different.”

He shrugged. “Big surprise, there’s nothing all that special aside from the interesting name. But apparently my appearance was enough to boost this restaurant’s business a lot, and for the most part, the quality of the chefs’ cooking could hold their own. Until two days ago.”

The yakitori was served and Hawks picked up a skewer to bite off a piece of meat before continuing while chewing, uncaring about his poor table manners. “Some fella, anonymous as far as I know, came in here and started straight up decimating the dishes and calling ‘em crap, basically.”

He swallowed. “And the dude didn’t cause a scene or anything. They just wrote down the bad stuff about the dishes and gave the notes to someone working here. Now, I’m actually signed up to the website. Have been since the staff kept insisting when I came here the first time. Just ‘cause, right?”

“ … Right.” Hizashi nodded slowly.

“So two days ago, I was bored- which should be a good thing, to be honest. Pro-Heroes getting bored on the job, I mean.” Hawks clarified with much resolution in his voice. “And I checked the site since I just remembered I was even signed in there, and what do you know? A notification for a complete revamp of certain dishes. So I was planning to come here to try them out but one day, browsing through the Commission forums, I was lucky enough to catch something which could probably allow me to actually stretch my wings a bit. So here we are!”

He finished with a wide smile as the two other Pro-Heroes listened awkwardly.

“So basically… the food is ‘improved’ because this place took a random critic’s advice.” Aizawa summarized. He was pretty sure Hawks said everything else to kill time and get rid of the silence.

“Yup!” Hawks pulled every piece of meat from the skewer by biting on one side and pulling the stick sideways.

“Anyways, I know you guys aren’t here to eat, but you can have some if you want. Live a little! Since we already know where our little group of villains are.” He said lightheartedly right as more dishes were served to the table.

Aizawa drew a long sigh. Where will this discussion go?

…

Tori allowed himself to be a little scared. After all, knowing that you’re going undercover in the presence of B-Class villains would do that to you. Regardless of the fact that he was wearing his civilian outfit.

But Hawks himself had personally requested Tori to carry out this little operation, so how could he, the sidekick, disappoint Hawks? It also sent a sense of thrill through his body, knowing that he wasn’t simply cleaning up after the hero.

Entering the inconspicuous alley, he could already see the little restaurant that Hawks had informed him was a nest of criminals…

Thrilling indeed!

Tori walked inside to carry out the mission, only to be greeted by a feeling of safety and calm crashing towards him in waves. He was momentarily stunned.

“A new customer!” A high pitched voice said excitedly and a blonde girl looking no older than a middle schooler popped up in front of him from seemingly out of nowhere. “What would you like to order, mister?”

Tori didn’t think he looked old enough to be addressed as ‘mister’ but that’s beside the point. This girl was a villain? He looked around the restaurant and-

Oh shit they are villains, look at that flipped chess board that clearly implied that someone was not afraid to show aggressive behavior!

It was at this moment Tori fully realized the gravity of the situation and how important Hawks’s mission was. He steeled himself and cleared his throat.

Hiding his nervousness with his years of hero training, he finally asked. “May I order takeout?”

And Tori waited for the answer with bated breath as he stood in place. The young villain took a moment to process his request with a blank face before breaking out into a more subdued smile.

“Sorry, but we don’t do takeout here. Not yet, at least.” She said apologetically.

And Tori’s mind went under crisis.

Shit, he didn’t think far enough. Why did he even believe a restaurant run by villains wouldn’t have their share of weird policies?!

“But you should still give it a try! Owner Bu cooks pretty quickly and the food is worth the price!” The girl stated matter-of-factly and Tori did not know what to do.

“Um- I think- I don’t- I think I’ll just…” He backed off a bit to prepare to take off and escape, but he heard footsteps very close by.

“Alright, I’ve finished taking out my anger-” A masculine voice said from behind him and Tori quickly turned his head around.

And he found despair.

A teenager with almost no healthy skin left on their body stepped into the store and their eyes landed on his own. So this was a villain. The man had said something about taking out their anger. Did they kill someone? Were they still angry? Would they be angry at him?

“Uh.” Dabi uttered out eloquently. Oh shit, the new guy definitely heard him. “The food here is pretty good. You can take my word for it.”

Fuck, considering his appearance, that probably did the opposite of the intended effect.

Tori was still fearing for his life. This tall villain blocked his only means of escape. He was effectively cornered. Not having a choice, Tori could only resign himself to fate as he turned to the menu.

His eyebrows shot up. He gasped and stumbled back dramatically. The two villains seemed to tense up a little. Tori pointed a shaky finger at the menu and muttered something.

“What did you say?” The girl asked with what Tori believed was faux innocence… but he was already trapped, so he might as well go all the way and give them a piece of his mind. He breathed in… and let himself go.

“A scam! A scam I say! Who are you trying to fool!?” Tori exclaimed with righteous fury. The two villains were taken aback. “What are those prices? Why don’t you just mug someone instead!?”

“Oi. I know it’s expensive but it’s definitely worth the price.” The one with the scars said in annoyance. A shame Tori had already lost his self-preservation instincts.

“I will not fall for it! This is definitely a scam! Without a doubt! I shall not stand here and be wronged by you vi-” He stopped abruptly, along with the villains. An irresistible aroma wafted from the kitchen. The undeniable smell of grilled eel tickled their nostrils and seduced their taste buds. A slim young man exited the kitchen with two bowls of what is without a doubt unadon.

Bu Fang held a tray with two servings of unadon and glanced at the noisy customer. He placed the tray down on the closest table.

The noisy man swallowed his saliva and said with an intoxicated blush, “W-well, if you must insist, I suppose I could try out some-”

“Dabi, Toga.” Bu Fang cut him off and his two most loyal freeloaders walked towards him. Well, only one of them was a freeloader, not counting Blacky. He placed down the dishes. “Try them.”

Their eyes shone with happiness. Dabi still wore his tired look, but he was definitely excited. Toga had no problem showing her upbeat mood.

“Thanks, Owner Bu! We’ll be sure to savor it real well!” She said and Dabi only made a sound of affirmation.

Bu Fang wasn’t planning on letting The System judge the dish this time. He’d already tasted it, but he wanted to be completely sure he could pass the evaluation, so only with the next unadon would he allow The System to judge. And since they were made of normal ingredients, he might as well cook a portion for each of the two villains.

Tori watched as the villains indulged in their free meals with no small amount of irritation as the corner of his lips twitched. “This… are you humiliating me?”

Bu Fang looked at him and said coolly, “Whether or not you want to buy it… that is up to you. I have my own reasons for setting it at that price. If you're not interested in ordering, you can always leave. I am not forcing you to stay.”

Tori became slightly bewildered. This villain… sounded quite honest!

He shook his head. None of those thoughts now. Since he failed his mission and couldn’t order takeout, Tori could only leave and tell Hawks what happened. It also appeared that there was an opportunity for him to do just that.

He swiftly turned around and marched right out the entrance… or he would have, if he hadn’t taken another deep breath of the appetite-inducing grilled eel. Tori made a decision.

“I would like to order… Egg-Fried Rice! If it’s not worth the price, I’ll call the authorities to shut this place down!” He threatened while breathing heavily. Bu Fang’s stiff smile became a bit sly. Toga and Dabi made eye contact and inwardly applauded Owner Bu.

…

“So the place is a restaurant that serves extremely expensive food… and they’re worth the price?” Hawks put a spoonful of rice into his mouth. His two guests nodded firmly. “How expensive are we talking about?”

Aizawa spoke up, “When I dined there, there were only three dishes. The Dry-Mixed Noodles and Stir-Fried Vegetable were 1,000 yen each, the most expensive item was Egg-Fried Rice worth 5,000 yen.”

“And when I went only a day later, there was the Improved Egg-Fried Rice which cost a whole 20,000 yen!” Said Hizashi, holding a skewer in his hand.

Hawks was mildly surprised. So few items yet so costly… “Both of you have eaten there?”

The two on the other side of the table glanced at each other. Aizawa spoke first.

“The dishes… taste-wise I dare say it’s already worth the price. But then after a while I felt oddly rejuvenated, less… sleep-deprived.”

“Same for me regarding the improved version.” Said Hizashi. “And I’m willing to assume that it not only tastes better than the normal version, but its effects were also greater. Without a doubt, it’s the work of a quirk!”

Interesting. Hawks was very curious.

“Speaking of quirks… upon entering the restaurant, you get hit by a sense of security, as if you were entering your own home or something. It’s near impossible to constantly keep your guard up in there.” Aizawa added and Hizashi confirmed it.

“This must be quite the special place… I wonder if I could visit.” The little restaurant sounded like heaven on Earth, in his opinion. The only problem was the fact that it was run by villains.

“Hah… I want to eat there again. Without a doubt, it cooked the best food we’ve ever eaten.” Aizawa did not deny Hizashi’s words. Hawks sharpened his gaze.

“Let me handle it. Alone .” He said in a tone of finality.

“W-what?” Hizashi asked incredulously. Aizawa narrowed his eyes.

“You are being irrational. We have only confirmed the identities of two villains among potentially four. We should mobilize a small police force to assist in arresting them after the three of us apprehended the villains.” Aizawa did not like the condescending look Hawks sent his way after he finished speaking.

“You talk about being rational, but aren’t you two the ones who waltzed into enemy territory and ate their cooking?” Hawks shot back with much less friendliness and Aizawa could not rebuke his words. Hizashi pulled his face into a grimace.

“As I said, let me handle it. I have sidekicks just waiting for their share of action. Thanks for letting me know about the situation, but I don’t need your help anymore. You guys can just use the time to do your job as teachers.” He said sincerely, and the two knew that they couldn’t change the hero’s mind.

The discussion had reached its conclusion with the number three hero himself taking control of the situation. A storm was brewing for Fang Fang’s Little Store… but Hawks didn’t account for the storm that was already present and awaiting his arrival.

The winged hero returned to his agency to meet up with his trusty sidekick Tori.

“Hawks!” Speak of the devil. Hawks put on his usual smile as he turned to look at the young sidekick. Tori wore an expression of… embarrassment? “I’m sorry senpai! I couldn’t order takeout from that restaurant!”

Hawks didn’t let the disappointment affect his mood. But there was something Tori was hiding from him. 

“And what did you do instead?” He asked curiously and sure enough, his sidekick reacted by coughing into his fist, face reddening.

“Please forgive me, Hawks senpai! Actually, I… ate there!” Tori said grievously as if he were wronged. Hawks couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “B-but! I’ve only eaten the Egg-Fried Rice and the Unagi Nigiri!”

More new dishes? The hero wondered to himself and Tori took that as a sign to continue.

“The Egg-Fried Rice was only 5,000 yen…” Hawks nodded slightly. That was correct. “A-and, the Unagi Nigiri cost… 30,000 yen…”

Damn! He recalled the discussion about the dishes’ effects. Now that he had a good look at his sidekick, Tori seemed a bit fidgety, and was it just him or is his skin tone a little redder than normal? Could this be the consumption of excess… whatever was in those dishes?

“Oh right, I had a nosebleed right after I left.” That sort of answered the question.

Chapter Text

Today was the last day that Toga and Dabi would be working here. It had already been a week. It was a fun experience, but all good things must come to an end eventually.

But Bu Fang wasn’t focusing on that. The atmosphere in his little store was quite heavy for reasons unknown. He was idling in place right outside the restaurant on a chair and carving a radish. The two villains had also pulled out chairs to watch as Bu Fang’s hands worked with elegance on the vegetable. What was he carving? The duo didn’t know yet.

They had long learned to just ignore the black dog that slept by the entrance of the restaurant.

But with this sense of uneasiness in the air, his mood soured slightly along with the villains. Toga and Dabi had experience, living out in the streets and coming in contact with other villains. They knew it would be foolish to ignore their instincts, so they were a bit more subdued today.

Bu Fang didn’t really care about any incoming dangers or whatever. He just wanted to carve his radishes without anything dulling his skills. His work was slowly coming together and they could see it resembled a bird… 

A swan.

Indeed, that average-sized piece of radish was carved into such a delicate shape. The swan’s legs were very thin and looked as if they would snap at the smallest touch. Its wings became increasingly detailed over time and the two were thoroughly mesmerized.

All of this was done with a kitchen knife, not a carving knife. Bu Fang’s actions were almost a blur and he had yet to blink.

Eventually, the product was finished. A swan that was carved to look like it was flying, its wings spread out majestically. Bu Fang glanced to his left to look at the newcomer.

The left side of the alley led to more alleyways and abandoned buildings. If one arrived from there, it would suggest that they didn’t have the best reputation. Bu Fang narrowed his eyes.

Or that they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves.

Red wings tucked behind his back and expression friendly, Hawks made his presence known.

“The place still open?” He asked and the two villains snapped out of their trance and turned their heads. And they froze, recognition clear in their eyes.

Bu Fang didn’t know this person, but it was obvious they were a big deal. But no matter their status, he was a chef first and foremost and the man with the wings was just another customer. “Yes, come in.”

Hawks did not hide his admiration for Bu Fang’s craftsmanship, openly staring at the swan sculpture. Bu Fang went back inside the restaurant and the villains followed mutely. The hero barely paid attention to Blacky.

“Toga, serve our customer.” He said, and Toga wished she had Owner Bu’s courage.

Hawks entered the little store and let his eyes roam the place. The interior was not large, but it wasn’t cramped either. He understood when those two mentioned something about an artificial atmosphere, feeling it himself. It definitely felt pretty good.

Hawks glanced at the menu and his eyebrows rose. He had heard it from Tori, but seeing it for himself was a different experience. Someone actually had the guts to price their dishes that high in such a backwater place.

A shame there were no chicken dishes, but no matter.

“What would you like to order, mister?” The young girl asked with a strained smile.

Hawks paid no heed to her behavior as he ordered with much certainty. “Every dish, please!”

“Eh?” Toga let herself be surprised before her eyes widened and she scurried off to relay the order. The hero took a seat and he relaxed himself. His eyes drifted to the young man with scars all over their body.

“The food here good?” Hawks asked and Dabi hesitated for a few seconds before replying.

“Yeah… It’s definitely worth the price.” The villain said slowly. Hawks simply hummed in response.

A short while of awkwardness on the villains’ side later, the first two dishes were served.

“Here’s your Dry-Mixed Noodles and Stir-Fried Vegetables, enjoy!” Toga brought the dishes to the table and set them down from the tray. Her voice held a degree of enthusiasm despite the situation and Hawks had to give it to her. She was a decent waitress.

He ate with much relish, wolfing down on the dishes ungracefully, but who was there to judge him? It tasted good.

Now he was anticipating the next few dishes. Without a doubt, the villain with the scars was correct. The dishes were worth their price.

The two types of Egg-Fried Rice were next and while the 5,000 yen version was good, the improved version was without a doubt an entire league above it in taste and ‘effect’. Most of the excess energy was transferred to his wings, giving him an urge to take off and admire the city from the sky going at full speed. Without his high metabolism rate and high maintenance wings, he’d probably explode if he attempted to eat every item on the menu.

Then he remembered another thing he came here for.

A single small feather plucked itself from one of his wings and slid along the floor, under tables and chairs and out of sight from the villains. It arrived by the kitchen door and slipped inside… only for Hawks to lose contact with the feather.

Fortunately he had his guard up and squared his features or he might have flinched. The kitchen was very much off-limits… but the ‘thing’ that destroyed his feather was definitely not human. Thanks to the dishes’ effects, Hawks’s feathers were more sensitive than normal and he could make out one human, the one who carved that masterpiece, and something metallic in nature inside the kitchen.

Whitey?

Which only begged several questions. What was the chef’s quirk? What was the metal construct capable of? Who was the real mastermind of this whole thing? How many villains were involved?

Hawks was broken out of his musings by a very enticing smell.

Bu Fang was the one serving next two items. Atop the tray was the Fish Head Tofu Soup and Unagi Nigiri. Each one of them cost 30,000 yen and Hawks was very much anticipating them. He pulled the first dish to be set down on his table towards himself. The Fish Head Tofu Soup.

A blue and white porcelain bowl contained the Fish Head Tofu Soup. Fresh and tender fish meat was floating in the pristine milky-white fish soup, along with crystal-clear tofu that looked brittle to the touch. The rich fragrance converged at the top of the bowl, exuding a captivating radiance under the dim lighting.

Hawks seemed to be quite knowledgeable about eating. He did not immediately eat the fish meat, but lifted the bowl and drank the soup instead. The milky white soup passed through his lips and into his mouth. The slight viscosity caused the soup to feel as smooth as silk. The rich taste that was released in his mouth completely enveloped his taste buds while the refreshing taste completely relaxed his entire body.

Hawks did not speak. Instead he used his chopsticks to try out the fish and tofu. After eating a piece of fish, he felt the fish meat give him a prickling sensation. It did not lower his rating of the dish but actually increased it. The prickling sensation came from the ingredient itself, and when combined with the refreshing taste, its richness was increased and made the taste more apparent. As for the tofu, it was extremely soft and seemed to melt in his mouth. It carried the faint taste of the tofu mixed with the residual taste of the fish.

“Without a doubt, this is better than any fish dish I’ve ever eaten before.” Hawks said firmly before finishing the bowl with much haste. His eyes landed on the Unagi Nigiri next.

The size and shape of each sushi’s vinegared rice mound was uniform. Sitting on each mound was a slice of grilled eel topped with a special sauce.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the best Unagi Nigiri he’d ever tasted. It only had six pieces on the plate, which meant each one was worth 5,000 yen… the same cost as Egg-Fried Rice! But since it was a popular Japanese recipe, it wasn’t all too unique. He scarfed it down all the same, though.

Hawks realized the final dish wasn’t taken out yet. He briefly wondered why until Bu Fang exited the kitchen once more and an aroma of alcohol invaded his nostrils.

“That’s… a pretty fragrant smell of wine.” He said to himself as he poked the fish with his chopsticks. So the reason the Lees Fish wasn’t taken out yet was because of the overpowering smell!

The finished product was quite nice to look at. The blue skin of the quirked fish had turned pinkish-red. The skin was crystal-clear like jade and looked as if was twinkling. Light pink distiller grains were spilling from the cut at its stomach, and the soup from the steaming process was both mellow and thick. The fish meat that was cut was split open during the steaming process, revealing the sparkling grease as it flowed out.

As the Lees Fish was being served, everyone within the store turned to look at it. The strong aroma of wine suggested that it was an acquired taste and Toga and Dabi likely wouldn’t order it for themselves. As for the other two food enthusiasts however, that was a different case.

"Here's your Lees Fish, please enjoy your meal," Bu Fang expressionlessly said.

So he did. Hawks poked the fish with slightly more force and the chopsticks pierced through the skin and penetrated the fish. A clear fish oil seeped out, accompanied by a rich fragrance. He picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth.

And just like that, he was conquered by another dish. Hawks felt as if he was not eating fish, but drinking a glass of wine. A wine aroma gushed out of the piece of fish and enveloped his mouth, but it was the fresh and tender piece of fish that was enclosing his taste buds instead.

Hawks closed his eyes as he enjoyed the taste. He gave a contented sigh as an intoxicated expression appeared on his face. Then he continued to pick up large pieces of fish to chew on. Hopefully this didn’t count as drinking on the job.

Only after he had finished enjoying the dishes did Hawks realize how much pent up energy was being stored in his wings as they almost trembled.

His smile became a bit somber. He still had a mission to carry out.

“What is your name, sir?” Hawks asked the chef.

“Bu Fang. You may address me as Owner Bu.” Bu Fang replied as he cleared the table. Hawks stood up to stretch all of his limbs except for his wings.

“Well, Owner Bu, I’ll be sure to come back again!” He said with his usual grin and he gave Bu Fang a thumbs up. He also paid the whole 117,000 yen for the meal. The moment he stepped out of the store, Hawks extended his wings and took off at high speeds, likely so he could burn off that excess energy. Besides, he did just waltz in there wearing his hero outfit.

After a moment of silence, the villains got up and approached Bu Fang.

“Owner Bu.” Dabi started, voice a bit desperate. “You should escape.”

Bu Fang looked at them skeptically.

“That was Hawks, the number three hero! With a single call he could probably flood your store with Pro-Heroes and policemen! We can’t go against him!” Toga looked genuinely afraid. Bu Fang’s eyes softened.

He gently tapped Toga on the nose. “Why are you worrying about me? By the end of the day your cuffs will fall off and you will be free once more.”

The two villains donned an expression of surprise. They totally forgot about that.

“And as you said, this is my store. How an I simply leave it?” Bu Fang said calmly, putting on a soft smile. “Don’t worry, Whitey is not the only thing protecting the place.”

Toga and Dabi exchanged wary glances before he continued. “How about this, if you can’t find a place to hide when leaving tonight and a hero finds you, fall back to the restaurant immediately.”

The duo realized they couldn’t sway Owner Bu’s decision, so they wished him the best.

“No need to be so tense. As long as you’re inside my store, no harm will come to anyone. Now, I hope you two don’t mind having unadon again.”

The restaurant fell back into its usual peacefulness. Toga and Dabi forced their concerns into the back of their minds as they enjoyed likely their last free meal from Owner Bu. He himself also ate with them.

“The Unadon has passed its evaluation. Congratulations to the host for completing the second and final requirement of the first God of Cooking mission. Mission rewards: A piece of equipment from the God of Cooking set and the new dish, Unadon, priced at 20,000 yen.” The System said solemnly. “The new item will be placed on the menu the next day. Host, please wait patiently as the piece of equipment is being prepared to get transferred to your position.”

…

The two villains left, but not before promising to Owner Bu that they would visit regularly. It was late in the evening and it was only getting darker. There was only the sounds of their shoes stepping on the concrete ground.

“Hey…” Toga spoke through the quiet night. “Owner Bu will be fine, right?”

Dabi took a moment to think. “I think so. He may not have told us many things, but Owner Bu has yet to lie, as far as I know.”

Toga accepted the answer with a nod. It had only been a week, but being in the presence of Owner Bu had always given them a sense of ease. They truly felt like they weren’t villains thanks to Owner Bu’s indifference towards society.

Dabi let out a long sigh… and paused. He lifted his foot and looked at what he stepped on. It was dark out and they had yet to fully adjust to the lack of light.

“Blood? Wait, no.” It certainly looked like blood, but didn’t feel like it when he stepped on the object. Toga knelt down and picked it up.

“No, it’s just a feather. Pretty big one, too.” She got up and showed the crimson feather to Dabi.

Then it hit them.

They looked up and-

“Yo.” In the dark of the night, Hawks looked down on them from atop one of the abandoned buildings. They couldn’t see his wings and the sky looked as if it was bleeding.

Wait.

Hawks made hand gesture and unleashed his feathers.

And a sea of blood descended upon the villains.

Chapter Text

Hawks stood on the spot, willing most of his feathers to return to his barren wings.

Toga was being quite slippery, using acrobatics to dodge the few large feathers trying to wrap around her. Unfortunately, Dabi did not possess the same agility.

No matter, there was still Owner Bu he had to capture. He could let the girl tire herself out a bit. He pulled Dabi a bit closer and off the ground.

“You have a fire quirk, right? So why aren’t you using it?” Hawks asked, not surprised he didn’t get an answer.

His plan was to push the villains back to the restaurant and apprehend all of them at once, but if the guy with the fire quirk was helpless…

Click.

“Hmm?” Hawks looked at the bundle of feathers wrapped around Dabi quizzically. The weird bracelet that both of them wore fell to the ground. He attempted to fly down to the ground to inspect it…

Until many things happened. The feathers encapsulating Dabi burst into azure flames in an extremely bright splendor. Hawks was momentarily blinded and lost contact with the smaller feathers that were affected by the flames. The shock had stunned the feathers chasing after Toga and she took the opportunity and lunged at him, knife in hand.

Hawks barely dodged, detecting the shift in the air heading towards him at near inhuman speeds. The knife still managed to draw blood from his cheek. Toga’s eyes were blank, but her aura oozed bloodlust and only then did Hawks realize how serious the situation was.

Feathers shot towards Toga and with her small frame and lightning fast reflexes honed through real life and death situations, she tested the limits of her body’s flexibility by slipping past the largest opening there was, sending the feathers scrambling, target gone.

Hawks tried to turn around to face the small villain, but the rapidly intensifying heat to his side did not allow him, forcing Hawks to instead turn to Dabi as the hero narrowly dodged a fireball.

Toga licked the knife out of his sight and kept the blood in her mouth instead of immediately consuming it.

A few burnt feathers were scattered around the newly freed and scarred villain, and Dabi let a small spark of ember dance across his fingers.

“Not gonna lie…” He made eye contact with Hawks as feathers surrounded Dabi from a small distance away. “I kinda miss the feeling of using my quirk.”

With a simple mental trigger, Dabi burned like a blue sun and Hawks squinted his eyes at the brightness. At one point Toga snuck away from his senses and ended up behind Dabi.

Hawks immediately mobilized the feathers surrounding Dabi that were still intact and sent a few to immediately capture the girl. The rest of them were instructed to act once the flames had died down enough and push Dabi back to the store with any means available.

A stream of blue fire shot towards Hawks and he dodged easily.

Oh, they were coming out in waves.

He stayed airborne amidst his dodging Hawks could have sworn something was missing-

He swerved to the side, warm metal nearly cutting his cheek again and Toga darted out of sight once more and out of the grasp of his feathers.

How did the feathers not keep her in place?

The intensity of the fire died down significantly and the feathers advanced, threatening to stab into Dabi and the villain gave a smirk.

Then he promptly burst into flames once more, forcing the feathers to retreat to a safer distance.

“Alright, that’s enough.” The villains were clearly toying with him, the number three hero. Hawks recalled his feathers back into his wings and they trembled with agitation before taking off once more in a blur.

Immediately Toga was immobilized by several of them as many more feathers revolved around Dabi at blinding speeds, confining the fire and raising it upwards. Hawks wiped off the sweat from his brow and he thought of something.

He caught the beginnings of a frown marring Dabi’s face as the villain realized what he was trying to do. Hawks’s train of thought was cut off by Dabi abruptly stopping the usage of his quirk-

Before he spread his arms out and the fire blazed outwards from his sides. The flames spread out so quickly that his feathers couldn’t do anything about it.

A wall. Instead of an easily confined bonfire, Dabi created a wall.

Only when scalding hot metal cut into his cheek did Hawks finally register the teachings from back when he was being tutored. Looking at Toga’s murderous face covered in sweat, the hero remembered.

Hot air rises. Heat energy causes the particles to vibrate more. Hawks can pick up the vibrations in the air through his feathers. Heat. Vibrations. Feathers.

That was how Toga escaped his grasp constantly. The high temperatures dulled the senses of his feathers and they were out of commission whenever they were out of sight. The girl kept hiding behind Dabi. Hawks was not even aware of this since the increase in temperature could be described as gradual and he unconsciously resorted to his sight and touch to control his quirk.

These villains had unknowingly created a strategy that tackled a weak point of his.

An opening was created in the wall of fire for Toga to escape into and she licked the bloodied knife, almost burning his tongue on the hot metal.

Hawks wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore. Instead, in the chaos of high temperatures and fast approaching fireballs, he breathed out.

And he glared . Enough was enough.

Hawks dropped to the ground and out of the paths of the fiery threats. He recalled his feathers before letting them loose once more…

And they tore through the air. Through the flames.

Cutting into flesh.

Dabi grunted in pain and surprise. The infernal wall died down. Feathers streaked through the air and instead of a threat, it was a promise of stabbing into his body if he didn’t back off. They wrapped around Toga before she could react and Hawks pulled her body to his side, far enough so he wouldn’t get attacked by surprise but close enough to be in his peripheral vision.

“I won’t let you control the rhythm of the fight.” He said coldly, willing his feathers to go even faster. Everytime Dabi attempted to step forward and try to go on the offensive, a feather would make a cut on his skin out of nowhere. The villain had no choice but to try and get rid of as many feathers as possible as Dabi backed off.

It’s been a whole week since he’d used his quirk. Dabi could definitely push even further, but Hawks had gone serious. He needed assistance.

So he made the turn into the alley where Fang Fang’s Little Store was located.

…

Bu Fang was training his knife skills when he heard the sounds of combat outside. There was also the undeniable sound of fire.

“Whitey.” He called, and the robot buzzed to life. “There’s a troublemaker outside.”

…

Dabi had backed off into a familiar alleyway. Behind him was where Owner Bu was, and even further was a populated area. Luckily this time around there wasn’t anyone taking a stroll out near here. To his sides and in front of him were simply abandoned buildings. They didn’t need to be quiet when fighting.

Dabi took a deep breath, before letting himself go.

He went ablaze at his maximum temperature and his skin started to itch-

But Hawks willed his feathers to fall back for a moment to escape being burnt. That moment was enough time for him to cage the hero in blue fire, removing Hawks’s vision. The inside would eventually heat up like an oven and cook whatever was in there. Oh, and there was also the lack of oxygen to worry about.

“I bet Owner Bu could turn your wings into a delicacy.” Dabi smiled sadistically.

Toga’s body fell from the air and landed with a thump. The feathers unfurled itself and Toga crawled out, breathing deeply through her nose. She saw a slim figure exit the store and she stumbled forward into the arms of Owner Bu.

She panted without opening her mouth and Bu Fang noticed how warm her skin was. He remembered that Toga was still so young. His eyes furrowed in worry and he looked at the large prison of fire that was slowly losing its integrity, likely from being affected from the inside. Dabi was also beginning to strain himself.

“I promise that I won’t allow him to take you away.” He said gently. The moment that Dabi seemed to lose the cage’s control, Bu Fang pointed at it. “Take care of the intruder, Whitey.”

Immediately, Whitey sprung into action. Blacky snorted in annoyance and trotted inside the restaurant to not get involved in the fight.

Whitey leapt up, powered through fire that had yet to completely die down and it swung. Hard .

“Fuck!” Hawks cursed out loud. The robot had caught him by surprise.

Over half of his feathers were used to stop the impromptu oven from closing in on him as Hawks tried to throw the shape into disorder from the inside by having them circle him at their maximum speed. If his reaction time was a split second slower, he would not have been able to stop the punch by using his feathers to pull back the entire robot.

Smoldering feathers wrapped around Whitey and it was thrown back, only for it lunge forward into battle once more.

Hawks brandished two large feathers and used them like swords to test the combat prowess of the robot.

Dabi was given a moment to rest and Toga pulled herself out of Bu Fang’s arms to finally swallow the blood and saliva in her mouth.

And her quirk went to work.

“Resilient one, aren’t you, Whitey?” Commented Hawks, seeing that his feather blades had barely put a scratch on the humanoid machine. “That’s a bit annoying, but I still have many feathers to spare.”

As he was about to ensnare Whitey and put it out of the fight, he detected a disturbance in the air and Hawks let instincts take over his feathers.

Foreign feathers clashed with his own and the hero turned his head in shock, seeing a carbon copy of him standing by the chef with a strained smile. He forgot about Toga, and without a doubt, his quirk was difficult to control for her.

Hawks remembered there was still Whitey to worry about and he raised his arm at the last second, cladding it in a thick layer of plumage right before a metallic fist smashed into his forearm. It hurt like hell despite the cushioning.

He wasn’t planning on staying in a tight spot for long, instructing his feathers to carry out the task of putting Whitey out of the fight. A whole quarter of his feathers were needed to fully apprehend the robot and pin it to the ground. Hawks turned to glare at his clone.

“You think you can use my quirk against me?” He growled in anger. The more experienced of the two sent a few feathers piercing through the air and stabbing into the clone’s wings.

Toga was forced to turn back to prevent any further damage to herself. Confirming that she was too exhausted to fight any longer, Hawks finally landed his eyes on the chef.

Bu Fang’s expression was grave. Not for his own safety, but rather for the others’ safety. The store had another trump card, but he assumed that it would only act when there was a threat to the restaurant or his life.

“Host, the reward has almost arrived. Please be patient.” The System’s voice had a level of urgency to it and Bu Fang couldn’t help but inwardly complain.

Hawks made a hand gesture and feathers shot towards him. Bu Fang stood in front of Toga’s prone form protectively.

And Dabi stepped in front of him, sending a beam of blue fire at the hero, burning away the advancing feathers. Hawks forcefully calmed his features as he dispatched all of his remaining feathers in a flurry to protect himself.

The flames could not pass through the barrier of feathers that spiraled around Hawks and a localized fire tornado was created, reminding Dabi of his encounter with Owner Bu.

“You know…” Even through the roaring inferno, the villain could hear Hawks speak. “If it wasn’t for Owner Bu’s cooking, I’m pretty sure my feathers would have burned out by now.”

The hero spoke mockingly, masking his discomfort from the heat with his voice. Dabi had a thought.

There was indeed a way to penetrate through Hawks’s defense, but how far is he willing to go for Owner Bu? The skin on his arms had already started to blister as his weak constitution finally reared its head.

It hurt. A lot. And Dabi wasn’t sure if he had enough drive to go any further. The beam gradually weakened.

He felt a hand clasping firmly on his shoulder and Dabi turned his head, surprised to see that Owner Bu was unaffected by the heat.

“Let’s win this fight.” He said, and Dabi’s eyes widened. He had another thought.

He wasn’t just fighting for Owner Bu. He was also fighting for Toga. For Fang Fang’s Little Store.

For himself.

And as he reared his fist back with determination in his eyes, Dabi knew.

Owner Bu was joining the fight.

“Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Watatsumi Bone Kitchen Knife of the God of Cooking set.” The System had said to Bu Fang before Dabi faltered in his offence. Relief flashed through his eyes. “The System shall immediately deliver the item.”

A mysterious and magical array materialized right after he gave his words of encouragement to Dabi. With a humming sound, something seemed to be slowly emerging from the magic array.

A domineering aura engulfed the whole alleyway, and Hawks froze for a moment in alarm. The opposite happened the Dabi. Instead, he took the intimidating aura as a trigger to finish this.

Flames converged at his forearm, the highest concentration on his fist. Any new wounds were immediately cauterized and it smelled very unpleasant.

Dabi had to admit, while he hated his father, there was indeed one reason how Endeavor managed to achieve second place on the charts.

He was powerful. So was his Super Moves.

Dabi roared with all he could, throwing his fist forward, and so did the spirit of Watatsumi.

ROAR!!!

A deafening cry of a dragon rocked the eardrums of everyone present. Dabi yelled the name of the Super Move inside his head.

Flashfire Fist - Jet Burn, Cremation Variant!

The ball of fire practically exploded from Dabi’s arm and rocketed forward like a blazing meteor. Right as the tornado died down enough for Hawks to get a clear look at Dabi, the infernal projectile broke through the barrier of feathers and slammed into the hero. Hawks was sent flying into the abandoned building on the opposite end of the alley.

Dabi’s eyes slowly shut themselves and he allowed himself to finally pass out. Toga had got up at one point and she broke his fall, ignoring his near-sizzling skin burning her own.

Bu Fang eyed the knife as it slowly emerged from the array.

Its blade was pitch-black like the abyss that was the bottom of the ocean, and its handle looked as if it was alive with the color of the sea.

A small ethereal serpentine dragon coiled around the knife. This dragon was the one that had roared with overbearing might. It was aqua blue in color and it exuded an air of divinity.

The ethereal dragon swiftly flew out and instantly bit Bu Fang's wrist. He felt a slight pain at his wrist and a drop of bright red blood flowed out from the wound. The drop of blood was then enveloped by the ethereal dragon and it flew back towards the kitchen knife.

As Bu Fang's blood was swallowed by the kitchen knife, the pressure that was like a towering mountain instantly dissipated and the ethereal dragon disappeared as well.

On the wrist that was bitten, a simplified version of the divine dragon's image appeared. Bu Fang's mind seemed to have formed a link with the Watatsumi Bone Kitchen Knife. With a single thought, he would be able to store the kitchen knife within the image on his wrist.

Bu Fang's eyes became focused as he grabbed hold of the plain and unadorned Watatsumi Bone Kitchen Knife floating in the air. A harmonious feeling suddenly spread from the depths of his heart. With a single thought, the oceanic knife grew to the size of a greatsword.

Hawks was conscious enough to recall his remaining feathers to his position to protect himself. The feathers wrapped around Whitey suspended their task and whizzed back towards their owner.

Bu Fang stepped forward and intercepted the feathers. With one well-placed swing, the gigantic kitchen knife sliced through most of the feathers effortlessly.

As expected of the God of Cooking set, it was easy to use.

Whitey immediately bolted to Hawks the moment it was free and sent him a rib-shattering punch. Hawks could barely control a few feathers to hold it back but to no avail. The metallic fist slammed into his abdomen and he was knocked out.

Looking at the battlefield, there was Toga who was on the verge of a heatstroke crying her eyes out to Dabi for him to wake up. Dabi himself had serious burns all over his skin, the already burnt skin worsening in its condition. The arm he used too finish the fight was burnt almost charcoal black and it was practically smoking. Hawks was still alive, but perhaps not for long. Instead of returning to his wings, the feathers fell lifeless onto the ground. The front of his hero costume was blackened from Dabi’s last attack and burn marks could be seen up to above his chest, below his Adam’s apple.

Currently, the priority was Dabi, but Bu Fang was not trained in first aid. Hell, could anyone survive this without going to the hospital?

Just as concern began to cloud his mind, The System chimed in his head.

“Abrupt Mission: Save Dabi and Hawks! Requirement: Using System-given ingredients, save Dabi and Hawks! Only one attempt is given to make the dish. Rewards: Dabi and Toga's loyalty (Not System Influenced).”

Bu Fang was momentarily stunned.

“Host, a recipe has been sent to you for this situation. Make Bitter Gourd Pork Ribs Soup with quirk-influenced  ingredients and save them! Use the power of Elixir Cuisine!”

Chapter Text

“Host only has time to cook the dish once. If it results in failure, Dabi and Hawks will succumb to their injuries. If that happens, only chaos awaits for the restaurant’s future.” The System said solemnly.

Bu Fang immediately became serious and started preparing.

“Toga, Bring Dabi inside! Whitey, bring Hawks!” He ordered them and stepped into the kitchen. There was likely to be civilians who heard the commotion and they might call the police.

The knife had already shrunk and its appearance out of combat was more normal.

The blade looked like stainless steel and the handle was white with patterns that were pleasing to the eye carved on it. As Bu Fang prepared the ingredients, The System gave more details about the knife.

"Watatsumi Bone Kitchen Knife: A part of the God of Cooking set. Its blade is made from the bones of Watatsumi, the Japanese great deity of the sea and it possesses the intimidating aura of a dragon god. Its handle is made out of an ancient species of coral which remains dead until the user engages in combat, and only then do the corals come back to life bearing the colors of the ocean.”

After Bu Fang placed down the necessary ingredients, The System described to him the effects of the quirked ingredients as he prepared.

He boiled System-given water and set the pork ribs in it to blanch them for a few minutes. He cut the bitter gourd in half across it length to scoop out the seeds. He then cut them into chunks.

“Bitter gourds are known to be able to cool down internal heating and reduce inflammation. This particular one has the ability to do the same much faster and more effectively, but instead of inside the body, the effects are applied to their exterior, curing physical burns.”

He chopped carrots and bell peppers into reasonable sizes

“Consuming carrots and bell peppers can help with skin repair and maintaining healthy skin. These ones are many times more effective and their effects are almost instantaneous.

Bu Fang had already set a large soup pot filled with water to bring to a boil. The moment he saw that the pork ribs had blanched enough, he immediately strained them and added them to the boiling soup pot along with the carrots and bell peppers.

Then he frowned. According to the recipe, he was supposed to wait almost up to a whole hour for the ingredients to simmer… but he didn’t have the time!

“Host, this is where the dish truly transforms into Elixir Cuisine. By making use of true energy pulled from a human’s core, the host is able to enhance the effects of the quirked ingredients and speed up the cooking process.” The System sounded. “The history of Elixir Cuisines were always vague and not much is known about them, other than the fact that at one point in time they were practiced by certain communities. Just like alchemy, the art of Elixir Cuisines were lost in the fires of history, the difference being that alchemy had actual recordings which were proof of its existence. In the current time period, only a select number of individuals still practice creating Elixir Cuisines, with only a few organisations aware of the art.”

“Even if the ingredients were not influenced with quirks, someone with enough experience with Elixir Cuisines can enhance the natural benefit of regular ingredients and allow for extraordinary effects.” The System finished.

Bu Fang raised an eyebrow. So there were people capable of healing injuries without the use of quirks.

“How do I make use of my true energy?” He asked curiously.

“Pay close attention to the simmering ingredients. This is the art of true energy culinary: The chef nourishes the ingredients with true energy by permeating it through the kitchen tools. The chef will be tested on his ability to manipulate true energy and control over the taste of the dish. Under these circumstances, the Watatsumi Bone Kitchen Knife will assist in pulling out host’s true energy for use for an hour. The next time the host wishes to create Elixir Cuisines, you will have to find a way to pull out the true energy by yourself.” And just like that, a whole new world of cooking was opened up to Bu Fang.

He focused his mind, and assisted by his new kitchen knife, he pulled at the energy in his core. Inspecting his open hand, sparkling rays of light circulated on his palm. It was as if a veil was draped over it. Placing his palm on the lid of the pot, he closed his eyes and manipulated the true energy within his body. He slowly directed the true energy through the lid and into the ingredients boiling inside.

Through the lid, Bu Fang could feel the minute changes in the ingredients as they were being nourished by his true energy. He directed all of his concentration to the dish, instinctively knowing that the true energy couldn’t be carelessly poured all over the ingredients lest he wanted to ruin the whole thing.

Beads of sweat dripped from his face after ten minutes of intense concentration. He opened the lid and a fragrant smell spread out from inside.

Outside the kitchen, the teary-eyed Toga twitched her nose and she looked at the kitchen, not noticing how Dabi and Hawks seemed to breathe easier.

Bu Fang placed the previously soaked wolfberries into the soup along with special seasoning before closing the lid again.

“These wolfberries serve to give a bit of energy to the ones consuming it, reducing the exhaustion coming from overusing their quirks. It also helps with blood flow.”

Bu Fang carried on with the true energy culinary for another five minutes and the dish was finally completed. He wiped the sweat from his face and he carried the pot outside. The System was to be thanked for his hands not being burned by the pot.

Toga perked up when she saw him and her eyes were magnetized to the pot.

“This can save them?” She asked skeptically, but also full of hope. Bu Fang simply nodded mutely as went back into the kitchen to retrieve a few bowls and utensils.

As the lid of the pot was removed, hot steam rose up and a rich aroma gushed out, spreading into the air. Despite being cooked for only fifteen minutes, the pork looked fully cooked and tender.

Toga drooled as she watched Bu Fang scoop the soup into two bowls.

The eyelids of Dabi and Hawks fluttered open at roughly the same time, and their noses twitched. Bu Fang gave a bowl to Toga.

He moved to Hawks’s form and sat him up, with much groaning on the hero’s side as blood leaked from his mouth. Bu Fang turned to Toga to instruct her to do the same for Dabi…

Only to see her drinking the bowl of soup.

“That was for Dabi.” He said, lips curling in amusement as Toga blushed in embarrassment. She refilled the bowl and repeated Bu Fang’s actions for Dabi.

Bu Fang looked back at Hawks and they made eye contact. “Can you drink this?”

Hawks looked at the soup before nodding slightly.

Hawks received the bowl with shaky hands and he blew on the hot soup for a few seconds before taking a sip. Dabi did the same, but he was assisted by Toga since his arms were the most injured parts of his body.

The effects came quickly. Hawks’s eyes brightened ever so slowly and the fingers on Dabi’s most damaged arm could almost curl into a fist. Bu Fang and Toga refilled their bowls, the chef telling her to add some bitter gourd to the portion.

Hawks ate the bitter gourd without a problem, but Dabi moaned complaints before finally eating his share of the vegetable. The bowls were set down for the two to let the effects set and for them to regain enough energy to eat by themselves.

Eventually, they were helped up and all four of them were seated on chairs, enjoying a late night meal. Hawks had let a smile rest on his lips as he ate and Toga chewed a piece of pork in satisfaction. Dabi ate with his less injured arm, but Bu Fang had assured him that his arm will heal eventually.

“Owner Bu… has anyone told you that your dishes are very much out of this world and the best things ever?” Hawks said jokingly, posture relaxed.

Bu Fang glanced at him and seriously replied, “They will one day.”

Which led to Hawks chucking softly, careful not to disturb his healing ribs. Dabi and Toga smiled at Owner Bu’s eccentricity.

An answer befitting for Owner Bu’s personality.

As Hawks ate in relative silence, he observed as the trio of ‘villains’ eat like they were family. Right as Toga was about to snatch another piece of meat for herself, Bu Fang intercepted her chopsticks and put a chunk of bitter gourd in her bowl. Her expression instantly became aggrieved.

Dabi snickered quietly, only to have a chunk also being put into his bowl and his face fell. The eyes of the two villains met and their features became unreadable. They stared at Bu Fang for a few seconds and instead of taking revenge…

They each put a piece of meat into his bowl, noticing that he had barely eaten any. Bu Fang took it all in stride.

Hawks smiled to himself. He was a fool for thinking he could separate these three.

After the table was cleared and their wounds healed at a visible rate, the four of them stayed seated to discuss a few things.

“You know,” Hawks began. “I said I would take care of this nest of villains by myself-”

“This place is not a nest of villains.” Dabi said with a frown. Bu Fang’s expression remained indifferent.

Hawks continued, “But now… it seems I’ve underestimated you all.”

He gestured at his naked wings that only had a few feathers remaining. “And now I’m at a disadvantage and you’ve captured me. This… isn’t good for both parties involved.”

“Then you may leave.” Said Bu Fang, shocking everyone present.

“Owner Bu, are you sure?” Toga could not comprehend his decision.

“It’s your call, but… he’s the number two hero…” Nor could Dabi.

After all, Hawks’s status commanded respect from many Pro-Heroes and his sidekicks practically worshiped him. He could simply give an order and crumple the store to its knees.

“Then what should I do? Kill him?” Bu Fang questioned. “Threaten him? And then what? Expect him to keep his promises?”

He brought his hands together and sent a piercing gaze at Hawks. “All I can do is let him go.”

The two villains seemed hesitant as Hawks stood up carefully so he wouldn’t stumble. “Thanks… but there’s quite a bit I have to explain why I didn’t apprehend you guys. If they still decide to raid this place…”

“If heroes decide to come here to arrest me, or any of us for that matter…” Bu Fang cut off Hawks. With a twirl of his wrist, a wisp of green smoke came out of the dragon’s image on his wrist and transformed into an exalted kitchen knife with a white handle. “Then your losses will be so great that you will regret your decision of not stopping them when you had the chance.”

The hair on the back of the hero’s neck rose. The few feathers on his wings quivered slightly. Just what quirk did the chef have?

Hawks loudly cleared his throat before speaking. “Well, you did save my life despite not needing to… and as far as I know, the three of you have yet to commit a crime since… I would say since you guys met. So I guess I owe you.”

He slightly bowed his head before making his way out of the restaurant.

“Oh man, imagine how I’m going to explain my outfit to my sidekicks.” He smirked, patting at his chest through the hole in his shirt. “But I was always good at making excuses.”

Hawks flashed a grin and gave a thumbs as the feathers that were still intact reattached to his wings. “Thanks a lot for the meal, Owner Bu! And you guys don’t need to call me by my hero name all the time, just refer to me like normal, Takami!”

“Wait, you still have like half of all your feathers?” Dabi asked, surprised.

Hawks flapped his wings once before replying. “As I said, if it wasn’t for Owner Bu’s cooking, I was pretty sure my feathers would have burned out. And besides, I’m the goddamn number three hero! How can my feathers be fragile?”

He stepped out into the alleyway and spread his wings to their maximum length. “Not sure how this place is still intact after the fight, but I’ve learned not to question some things!”

There was System to thank for that, Bu Fang thought to himself and Takami took to the skies.

Dabi and Toga plopped down on their seats tiredly. Even if they still had energy, their minds had experienced enough stress for the day. Owner Bu seemed to mull over something.

“Since it’s come to this, why don’t you two just live here?” Bu Fang said and the villains straightened their bodies lighting fast.

“Are… are you serious?” Dabi’s voice shook.

“Even after all the trouble we gave you…” Toga’s lip trembled.

Bu Fang shrugged. He had already asked The System if that was allowed. “Honestly, most of this was my fault, so don’t worry about it. But there are consequences to accepting.”

The two listened in intently. “This is barely the beginning of my journey. My ambitions surpass any hero or villain that has ever lived and if you decide to make this place your home, you will have to work here. Being associated with me runs the risk of getting involved with enemies trying to settle the score with me. Simply put, you can leave and remove the risk of getting killed , or you follow me to the end.”

He finished, and the atmosphere was somber. Toga and Dabi was speechless for a few seconds…

And their expressions hardened.

“We’ll follow you to the end, Owner Bu.” Said Dabi, passion in each word. Toga nodded with fervor.

“Host, the next God of Cooking missions will only get progressively more difficult, and there will be other missions that aren’t hidden or abrupt assigned to you. Young man, work hard to become the God of Cooking!” The System said in his head and Bu Fang let a ghost of a smile grace his lips.

…

“Sorry for calling you guys to my agency so late in the night.” Takami said apologetically, wearing civilian clothes. Eraserhead and Hizashi sat across him, the former interrupted from his patrol.

Eraserhead sighed and Hizashi waved it off. “Don’t worry about it! One of your sidekicks drove me here, after all.”

“So did you take care of the villains?” Eraserhead cut straight to the chase, and Takami’s face fell slightly.

“I’ll tell you about it. Only if you swear to secrecy.” He requested and the underground hero was instantly suspicious.

“What happened?” Eraserhead asked sternly.

“Well let’s just say it didn’t go as planned, so will you swear to secrecy?” Hawks said casually and Eraserhead instantly regretted not trying to convince Hawks to be more careful.

“They escaped, didn’t they?” Hawks didn’t answer. “You tried to handle this alone and look where it led to. Why are you not trying to look for them? Use your agency’s resources! Why did you call us here? You said it yourself you didn’t need our help!”

“Shouta…” Hizashi placed a hand on his friend’s arm, but Eraserhead was still furious.

“The next thing you know, a string of murders will pop up and it will be months before we can-”

“They won’t do that.” Takami interrupted with bite in his voice. “I’ve seen how they are.”

“How are you so sure?” Hizashi, the voice of reason, asked. Takami sighed tiredly.

“You see the size of my wings?” Only then did the two realize how much smaller his wings looked. “I got into a fight with them and lost.”

Hizashi’s face morphed into shock. Eraserhead stood up in agitation. “This is why we need to take care of them as soon as possible! If there’s a threat capable of defeating the number three hero, then the weaker heroes would be helpless to them if they patrol alone!”

“And that’s why I want you two to not say anything about it!” Takami yelled back. “I know that they’ve redeemed themselves! They just want to run a business! They’re no longer villains!”

“How do you know?!” Eraserhead demanded. So Hawks answered.

“They saved my life!”

The underground hero froze. So did Hizashi. Takami took a deep breath before pulling his shirt up, revealing the large burn scar on his chest and abdomen. “You know the one with the fire quirk? Yeah, that guy did this to me. Then I got knocked out. They could have just left me to die…”

He let go of his shirt and continued. “But they didn’t. Along with another one of their injured friends, they healed me up almost perfectly with a dish. A single dish.”

Eraserhead had sat himself down and they listened as Takami described how it felt to eat the miracle dish. “And as I watched them eat… it was like looking at a family dinner.”

He smiled mirthlessly, making eye contact with the two across him. “Owner Bu… is not a bad person. And I believe he’s also changed the two villains for the better.”

“So please. I know some of them have committed serious crimes, but it would be best if we just… let them be.” The two guests were struck silent. For Hawks to speak in that tone of voice… it was unheard of.

“Alright.” Eraserhead turned his head to Hizashi in surprise. “If it’s that important to you, then I will swear to secrecy.”

Hizashi looked at him. “Shouta, I believe him. If he thinks that the… group won’t commit anymore crimes, then it might actually be best to not cross their path again.”

“I promise I’ll take full responsibility of the situation if they were the ones who started the fight.” Only then did Eraserhead yield.

“Fine. I swear to secrecy.” He sighed once more. “But can you at least give us another reason why you keep insisting we keep our mouths shut? Two villains, both B-Rank, and have taken several lives before. Them saving your own life is not enough for even you to consider simply letting them go.”

Takami paused. And he remembered.

He recalled the feeling of helplessness drowning him the second that dreadful aura blinded his senses. It was like being out at sea in the middle of a thunderstorm on a canoe.

It was absolutely terrifying.

Takami’s demeanor shifted, and the two heroes in front of him became serious. He recalled Owner Bu’s words. So he simply repeated them.

“If there was anyone who dared approached the three with a crowd of Pro-Heroes… then our losses will be so large that I will regret ever letting that person take action.”

…

In a certain agency, the same night, a blonde-haired woman sat at her large desk, looking a little bit at a loss.

“Miss?” Her eyes darted to a sidekick that peeked into the room from the large door in front of her.

“I thought you left for the day.” Said the sidekick. The woman waved them off.

“Don’t worry about me, you should go home and rest. You’ve worked quite hard today, right? I just have something I need to do.” With that, the sidekick nodded before shutting the door and leaving.

Ryukyu looked out of the large glass pane from the top floor of her agency towards Fang Fang’s Little Store. She let her mind drift.

That weird feeling she had a few hours ago… it lasted for only a few seconds, yet…

She had never felt so alarmed before. She had almost lost control of her quirk and transformed in her office.

Ryukyu did not have Nighteye’s foresight quirk, but for some reason she just knew.

“Something big’s gonna happen… and Musutafu will be in the center of it all.” She muttered.

…

In an unknown location in Japan.

A certain masked emperor of Japan’s underworld shifted in his seat.

“Hmm… What a peculiar feeling. I can’t quite point out where it came from.” He said to himself before he finally settled down.

And All for One slumbered.

…

In an unknown location in China.

A mysterious figure exuding an aura of a supreme being sat on a throne of some sort. Their facial features were blurred as if their faces were censored to hide their identity. Just what kind of quirk was that?

Standing on guard beside the mysterious person was a person who carried a visage that could be described as devilishly handsome. The guard picked up a change in the air from the one on the throne.

“A disturbance, Your Majesty?” He asked the figure in Chinese, knowing how their quirk worked.

“Yes… I just didn’t expect a reaction from so far away…” They said slowly, also speaking in Chinese. “Japan… there awaits a treasure…”

Amusement flashed through the handsome guard’s eyes. Japan? That place?

“Arrange for a trip there… send twenty members… and at least three high ranking members… in a month’s time…” They continued.

“So many members… are we setting up a branch in Japan?” The guard asked curiously.

“We have been inactive for a bit too long… The heroes here will not expect us… to suddenly send a group to go international…” They turned to the guard. “My champion… I am giving you permission to go with them… to explore a bit…”

The handsome ‘champion’ simply laughed. “I’m afraid I will have to pass that opportunity to the Old Monster. He has a score to settle with a certain someone who escaped to Japan. Besides, there is a small chance that someone will catch that I’ve left the country. If the heroes here find out the Shura Sovereign along with a few high ranking members and a number of our forces have left their territory, they will likely charge at our main headquarters with all they have.”

The mysterious figure hummed in thought. “Yes… good idea… The Old Monster must be itching… to get his hands… on All for One… If you went instead… that living fossil… will avoid confrontation…”

A smile demonic in nature appeared on the Shura Sovereign’s handsome face as he imagined the destructive battle. It had been too long since something truly interesting happened involving their organisation.

And he spoke his thoughts.

“Glory to the Ancient Shura City.”