Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He thought middle school was going to be better, but just one month there has already proved the opposite.

"I want to change school," Midoriya persistently said. His frustration almost bubbled over. They have been through this countless times, but Inko always came with the same lazy excuse.

"I am not gonna waste money or energy on this stupid matter," she sternly replied.

She never once looked at him, keeping her back straight and typing away at her computer.

"You know just as well as I, that we don't need to worry about money! And I never even said I wanted to change to a private school! Just change me to Shinketra!" Midoriya was shaking.

She never looked him in the eye. Maybe it was her way of dehumanizing him? Excusing her neglecting abuse as if the fact that he was quirkless and her stupid husband leaving, was a good enough reason.

"And let you leave Katsuki? Shut up, and stop bothering me," was her cold reply.

"I'm being bullied! He’s bullying me! I’ve told you countless times!" he shouted. Midoriya's chest was heaving and he already knew what her response was going to be. Inko never listened to him. She never helped him. Never supported him.

She tensed and gritted her teeth, "You're just exaggerating, and you know it. Katsuki would never lay a hand on anybody." 

Whoever thought Midoriya was innocent was wrong. He was a spiteful little shit, and choosing the most expensive private school within a reasonable distance  seemed like a good idea.

It wasn't as if she would notice the money disappearing, whoever his so called father was, sent good money. He logged of his mother’s computer, satisfied with his hacking and went to go put on some workout clothes.

Midoriya was almost thirteen, and without friends or challenge in school work, he went to the trash filled Dagobah beach. It was good exercise to clean, and sometimes he found perfectly usable stuff he could use or play with.

Sometimes he found some really valuable stuff he could sell. As it would look way too suspicious for a barely teenager to sell wedding rings, old valuables, or body parts, he went to the bad part of town with a hood over his head. Nobody asked questions there.

Normally he would go throw coins at birds or cash to homeless people. Other times he would waste it on funky clothes in Tokyo. Yes, sometimes he casually went and stayed some nights in Tokyo.

Midoriya was bored by life. And really, even without the money from the weird shit he would find, his bank was filled every month by some account in America. 

Today Midoriya felt adventurous, and with the promise of a new school, he decided to wander from the more wealthy part of town, where he lived, to the outskirts of Musutafu. Something about the lawless area exited him, even though he knew the dangers that existed. 

He passed what looked like a lowly gambling bar. He didn't know what made him enter, but he did. The stinky place was crowded by dangerous looking men and women.

They looked at him weird, surprised that a little kid would enter a place like this. A few of them looked him up and down, Midoriya cringed. He hoped it was only because of his more expensive clothes.

Soon enough he was waved over by a few rough looking men, that taught him the basics of the game they were playing. Poker, a version of gambling based less on luck and more on strategy and skill.

Midoriya bet a small sum of money, and unsurprisingly he lost it all in the first rounds.

He returned the next evening, and after he lost all the money he bet again, Watasha, the owner of the bar, a strong looking woman with uncountable piercings and tattoos, offered to teach him some basic poker games and tactics.

A week later the acceptance letter to his new school came. Midoriya wasn't surprised he got in, his grades were excellent.

He notified Aldera through his mothers email, and didn't bother showing up for the rest of the week. He would start Yufukuna middle school on Monday anyway. 

One train ride later and Midoriya was gripping his backpack as he introduced himself to his new class.

"Hello, my name is Midoriya Izuku, and I live in Misioka prefecture. My quirk is analysis."

His original plan to bribe the teacher into keeping quiet about his quirk status proved to be unnecessary. The teacher couldn't care less about anything other than grades and Midoriya's seemed to impress him enough. 

He was told to sit near the back. There were many interesting looking people in his class, and some of them even greeted him!

What shocked him the most though, was noticing a half white, half red head on the other side of the classroom.

"Do ya recognize him? Of course ya do! Its Todoroki Shouto, son of the nr. 2 hero!"

The girl sitting next to him excitedly gushed about Endeavor's son. And of course Midoriya recognized him. He had notes about every hero he could find information on, therefore also notes on their immediate family and weaknesses.

Interesting, he thought. Midoriya didn't expect to be classmates with him. In an interview from a couple years ago, Endeavor had stated that Shouto was home schooled.

Midoriya hummed to himself. Todoroki probably started going to physical school starting middle school. He politely nodded with what the girl, Aika she had introduced herself as, was saying, letting her continue to ramble. Mental note: She has a crush on Todoroki.

It was weird, being talked to, Midoriya thought. He had to remind himself that this was only because they thought he had a quirk.

He breathed out, as long as no one found out he's quirkless, his plan on laying low was going to work perfectly!

Or, maybe not. Midoriya was walking towards the gambling bar he has been regularly visiting the past couple weeks, when he heard a taunting voice call on him.

"Hey Deku, long time no see eh?"

Midoriya gritted his teeth and forced himself to turn around slowly.

He recognized his former schoolmate, Akiteru. An upperclassmen that loved to take his frustration on him.

"Where the fuck do you think you’ve been!?"

Midoriya's adrenaline levels were rising and the alarms in his head screamed of danger. He knew he had to get out of there now. Midoriya pointed behind the bully and shouted,

"Look there!"

The second Akiteru turned his head, Midoriya made a run for it. He ran blindly through alleyways and unfamiliar streets. Noticing a park he quickly sprinted towards it, in hope of hiding in there.

The problem was that Midoriya hadn't quite hit puberty yet, and Akiteru was known for being one of the most athletic guys in Aldera.

Soon a rough hand grabbed the back of his shirt and slammed him against an empty food booth. It was late evening and the park was practically empty.

"You got some nerve trying to trick me Deku, especially after you stopped showing up to school like the fucking coward you are! You're not going to be able to walk when I'm done with you, you quirkless little shit!"

Midoriya was shaking, he was roughly turned around from the wall. The self defense he had learned the past week was completely forgotten.

A fist hit him in the stomach and he doubled over. Dragged up by his hair he tried to resist crying from the pain. He was hit in the face.

I’m scared, please make it stop.

Midoriya braced for the next hit, but it never came. The temperature around him suddenly dropped. Looking up, he saw Akiteru frozen in ice.

"You're quirkless?"

Chapter Text

"You're quirkless?"

Todoroki was wearing workout clothes, obviously having been on a jog or something. Midoriya couldn't focus on that too much though, a new wave of panic went through him as he realized what had just happened.

Fuck, Midoriya thought. There goes his plan on laying low.

"U-um, I don't, I don't know you! You have mistaken me for someone else!" It was a horrible lie on Midoriya's part, he knew. Todoroki squinted at him.

"No, I haven’t. You started in my class a couple weeks ago. Mudora? Or um, Deku? That's what he called you."

"NO! It's- it's not Deku!" Midoriya shouted and looked down. He couldn't handle it if people started calling him that again. That, that fucking nickname haunted him.

Todoroki stepped closer and raised his hand, causing Midoriya to flinch badly and step backwards. Midoriya's foot caught on an ice root, and he fell on his ass. Looking up he braced for impact, but quickly realized the ice surrounding Akiteru was melting by Todoroki's outstretched hand. Todoroki opened his mouth to ask if he was okay, but Midoriya was already up and running away. He didn't follow.

The tears were finally released, Midoriya hated crying. Hopelessness loomed around him as he ran through the unfamiliar streets. A good distance away, the exhaustion caught up with him and he finally slowed down.

Todoroki was going to tell everyone how he was a shitty liar. T hat he was quirkless. People were going to call him Deku and bully him again. They wouldn't greet him anymore and Aika wouldn't ramble about her day or Todoroki to him. Kou wouldn’t ask him for homework help. They would look at him with disgust, just like everybody else at Aldera did. Midoriya didn't have any friends, but his new classmates at least didn't treat him like an outcast for the first time since he was four. 

Looking around, Midoriya found himself somewhat close to the gambling bar he was originally headed to.

Soon he was inside, politely asking for a glass of water to rehydrate. Luckily his hood was covering the bruise he knew was forming above his eye.

The regulars were familiar with him now. He had been coming here for the past 7 weeks and had a reputation growing. He was becoming one of the best poker players in the bar.

After all, Midoriya didn't choose Analysis as his lie for nothing. He has been studying and taking notes on heroes, (and recently on villains), since he learned how to write. He studied their strengths, their abilities, their fighting styles and their weaknesses.

In Aldera, he was at the top of his class for a long time. At least until he realized that his peers felt less threatened and violent when he wasn't ahead of them.

To make school just a little bit more bearable, Midoriya learned to analyze his bullies behaviors. He had to know what made them happy and frustrated. When they were going to attack, and judge by their looks across the classroom, how many they were inviting to join.

Naturally smart too, and Midoriya had quickly become better and better at poker. By the second week, he knew over 20 different poker games. By the third week, he had researched them all and learned countless tactics and tricks. And by the fourth week, Midoriya had won back all the money he had previously lost.

Reading his opponents faces and body language, calculating the chances and risks of doing a move, keeping his own expression devoid of any reaction.. Midoriya had become addicted.

Still he was in no way comparable to Watasha.

Nobody knew his real name. They wondered and asked, but he kept quiet. Most of them just called him kid or little player. 

One time some guy asked what his quirk was, ranting about how he HAD to have an intelligence or probability quirk.

Midoriya had looked at him with the coldest glare he could muster, and nobody had ever asked him again.

The thing was, his encounters with danger had rapidly increased. Especially after word got around that he carried around money.

Seeing as Midoriya was barely 13, people thought he made an easy target. One time he had bluffed his way to victory, the man he had played against, had waited outside the bar to ambush him.

Luckily Midoriya had managed to dodge the first hit and run close enough back to the bar that Watasha noticed the ruckus. The man was beaten to a pulp.

It was the first time Midoriya had seen someone bad being beat up. Of course he had witnessed villains taken down by heroes, but bad people that attacked him got away with it just fine. The grotesque sound of the man's jaw breaking.. it scared him.

Not because he was worried for the guy, but because he wasn’t. He was apathetic to the man’s pain. It felt so well deserved.

”Kiddo, you have to be careful around here. This area, it’s mean. And people are even worse,” she had warned him.

“I know,” he had replied. The look he gave her, it portrayed something, because she understood. He had learned the hard way. 

Watasha was teaching him self-defense. She was telling him cold facts about the world, and life.

”No one is good, so don’t give mercy and don’t trust.”

Back to the present. Midoriya sat himself around his usual table, trying to forget tomorrow’s school day and the hell it would probably be.

”Wanna play a round of Countdown little player?” Kakashu lazily asked him. Midoriya nodded. Kakashu’s friends came back to the table with their drinks.

Midoriya smirked, even if school would go to shit again, at least he had this little world he could escape to.

“Let’s bet gentlemen."

Chapter Text

Midoriya took a deep breath, he could do this. And this time, he wouldn't take the bullying laying down.

He was learning self-defense, and all the training the teen had done on Dagobah had been paying off. His stamina was much better than before, and carrying trash had become so much easier.

Still, the worst of it all was the isolation.

But that’s fine isn’t it? Better isolation than scars, right?

Wanting to miss the lingering stares and comments that was sure to be thrown his way, Midoriya arrived just as the bell rang.

Keeping his head down, he bowed to his teacher and rushed to his seat. He made sure to watch for any accidental feet tripping him.

“Good morning Midoriya-kun,” Aida whispered to him.

“Huh?” He whipped his head around in shock. She was casually taking her books out of her backpack, acting completely normal.

In fact, as he looked around the classroom, no one was staring or whispering about him. He frowned. Was this a prank? Were they waiting for him to believe he had gotten away with it?

Or… hope bloomed in his chest. Or maybe its ok. Maybe this time is different, and they won’t judge me for something i have no control over. Maybe this class isn’t like my last school, isn’t like my deadbeat dad, or my useless mom. Isn’t like my dear best friend Kacchan.  

“Midoriya-kun, do you have the answer to 3a?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Midoriya gulped. “Y-yes sensei. They lie in 23 pairs.”

“Correct.”

Midoriya relaxed a little. Looking around again, he caught a pair of heterochromic eyes staring at him from across the classroom. They almost seemed to be glaring.

Pretty, he couldn’t help but think. Pretty, but scary.

Exchanging a few more glances throughout the lesson, the bell soon rang for their 10-minute break.

Midoriya stood up and walked over to the door. Glancing back, he tried to catch Todoroki’s gaze, which he found out wasn’t hard at all. The bicolored teen was already looking at him.

Squinting his eyes, Midoriya tried to communicate with Todoroki. He didn’t notice a few classmates had stopped to look at him, weirded out at the quiet kids eye dance.

“What the fuck,” Midoriya heard someone whispering. That snapped him out of his passionate staring contest. The green haired teen realized how pathetic he probably looked and died a little.

Blushing, he raised his hand and just beckoned Todoroki over, trying to subtly disappear into the void.

Sighing, Todoroki stood up from his desk. Following Midoriya, they ended up in a secluded hallway.

“What are you doing?” Midoriya asked. As much as he feared Todoroki, he had to know what the boy was thinking.

Todoroki leaned against the wall, “What do you mean?”

“What game are you playing at Todoroki-san?” Midoriya gritted his teeth.

“Why are you lying about your quirk?”

He’s so stubborn, Midoriya thought. When he didn’t answer give Todoroki an answer, the bicolored teen pushed himself of the wall and walked away. “Don’t waste my time.”

“Wa- wait! Todoroki-san!” Todoroki stopped, waiting for him to continue.

“Did you tell anyone?” Midoriya muttered. Todoroki was barely able to hear his question, he continued to walk away.

“Not my business.”

Midoriya didn’t know what to think. Whether to be relieved and grateful for the fact that Todoroki had held his secret, or disappointed that his initial hope of his classmates just not caring about his disability was wrong.

Who was he kidding? He had been through this with Watasha. Even she didn’t know his quirk status. His mentor had quickly understood that it was a sore topic for him.

He sighed, no use in keeping naïve hope. Nobody would be different.

…Except Todoroki. Midoriya sighed again. Groaning to himself and shaking his head. He couldn’t delusion himself. He had to prepare for whatever Todoroki decided to do.

…Which turned out to be nothing at all. Two weeks later and his comfortable middle school life had continued without any hiccups.

Midoriya thought he would be blackmailed or something, but Todoroki barely looked at him, just like everybody else.

And just like that, four more months passed by.

Midoriya had started to train more than just by carrying trash and Watasha’s self-defense lessons, now focusing a little more on strength. He had stayed low at school, almost forgetting about the whole Todoroki ordeal.

At the bar there were few people who wanted to bet with him, now that he had improved so much, which sucked. At least Watasha was up for it, but he always got throughly destroyed. Just like now.

The women let out a low chuckle, “Kid, I can see right through your plan, you know?”

Midoriya gritted his teeth. Looking up from his cards, he observed her.

Watasha had warm, tan skin and dark purple hair that was neatly slicked back.

She was wearing a black turtleneck due to the cold November weather, but in the warmer months, she wore a singlet. Her tattoos proudly on display; Long black tendrils that circled around her left shoulder and stretched both up and down. From her shoulder they curled up around her neck and right ear. Downwards, the tendrils went in waves to wrap around her fingers. It was trykt majestic.

And just like her tattoos, her eyes were coal black, with just a thin line of glowing purple surrounding the irises.

Watasha looked dangerous, and she was too.

When inevitable troublemakers tried something, Midoriya had seen her beat men three times her size to the ground. If someone had an especially dangerous quirk, and she judged it necessary, she pulled out her gun without hesitation. She was… simply said badass.

Her quirk wasn’t fit for combat, but she wasn’t bothered by it. Watasha managed just fine without one, which made Midoriya look up to her even more.

When it came to poker though, no quirk was better suited than Watasha’s.

“Are you folding yet?” she asked, tapping her nails on the table. They had gathered a crowd, as they always did when they played against each other.

“Nope,” Midoriya confidently answered, but looking down, he barely had any chips left.

This would be a big gamble, but if he just managed to…

“I go all in,” Midoriya announced and pushed all his chips forward to the center of the table.

“Ha! I told you I can see right through you kiddo!”

The purple surrounding her eyes glowed, “I answer,” she pushed forward her own chips, not bothering to make sure that it was the same amount as his. She knew he was bluffing.

The crowd started chanting, “Show, show, show, show!”

Watasha’s quirk allowed her to read through body language, and in turn easily alter her own. As impossible as it felt, she had told him that it was possible to trick her quirk; if you were so good at hiding your intentions, that even you yourself partly believed it.

Of course, strategy was also an important part to poker. But when Midoriya couldn’t bluff and execute his plans, it became impossible to win.

The low light of the bar caught Watasha’s gold earrings. She put her cards down and leaned back in her chair with a smirk. It was two royal pairs.

Midoriya couldn’t delay it anymore. When a smile broke out on his face and he relaxed, her face morphed into shock. He threw his cards on the table and grinned. Royal flush.

The crowd exploded with noise. It was the first time someone had ever managed to fool her.

“But you were bluffing…” When she realized what had happened, a manic grin formed on her face and she began laughing. “You tricked me into thinking you were bluffing!”

Midoriya couldn’t stop the proud feeling blossoming in his chest.

Normally she would have been able to read him and know to not bet much that round. But Midoriya had done his best to make it look like he was bluffing with a bad hand. And he did it!

“Amazing little player. Let’s see if you’ll be the first one in the bar to ever win against me.”

He lost, but he had at least managed to trick her quirk and bluffed two more times.

Elated, Midoriya had skipped to the nearby store to grab some snacks.

After patting around for two embarrassing minutes, Midoriya realized he had forgot his wallet at the bar.

No matter how much he tried to refuse, the clerk insisted he just grab his potato snacks and go. Midoriya had been there enough times that they had become friendly.

Blushing, he ran back to the bar. Midoriya was definitely going to pay the clerk back. If he managed to find his wallet at all though.

A sleek, black car passed him, briefly distracting him from his thoughts. Weird, he thought. To see such an expensive car in this area.

Anyways, forgetting his wallet in a bar, in this part of town, wasn’t his biggest accomplishment. Hopefully Watasha had seen it and was watching over it for him.

Midoriya finally slowed down, panting a little. As he rounded the corner to the bar, he saw a few unfamiliar men, dressed in suits, entering. The same expensive car from earlier was parked outside.

A gunshot made him quickly run into the bar.

Inside was chaos. People were screaming, desperately pushing each other (and him), in an attempt to reach the door and get the hell out of there.

Midoriya could barely see anything with almost all the adults being taller than him. Though he could make out the tables knocked over, and the cards snowing down.

Midoriya would’ve ran too, but he really needed his wallet.

“What are you doing Green?! Get the hell out of here!” Kakashu was dragging him by the arm, making him crouch away from the bullets.

“I forgot something, let me go!” Midoriya knew Watasha would easily take care of this. 

He managed to rip his arm away from Kakashu and rushed forward.

The people were finally clearing away from his sight, and the gunshots had stopped.

It was then he noticed.

The bar’s old jazz music faded to a dull ache in the back of his mind. He didn’t notice the men in suits pushing past him and leaving.

Midoriya just continued to stare at her open eyes. He noticed that the purple edge of her iris had disappeared.

A trail of blood from the gunshot in her forehead was running down, past her black brows.

His mentor, his friend, his idol, his mother figure, the deepest bond he had still intact.

The closest person he had had since he was four, when his own mother gave up on him. She was laying there on the ground, blood coloring her lifeless black eyes.

No tears formed in Midoriya’s.

Chapter Text

“Anything you want to drink, sir?” a waiter asked him.

“No thank you,” Midoriya answered. He was too focused on his next move to pay much attention to anything else.

Surrounding him was excited onlookers, holding cigarettes and alcohol in their hands.

They were in a grand basement with crème colored walls and a large fancy center filled with different gambling tables and machines. To the right, a long black bar occupied the wall, and to the left, many small rooms could be accessed through heavy, dark, red curtains.

The old-fashioned chandeliers that were hanging from the high ceiling, cast a golden hue over all the people mingling and playing.

By the stair entrance going up to the small unsuspectible antique shop, two bodyguards were standing with weapons and fangs ready to be used.

This place craved high security and secrecy. To be able to enter the basement you needed to tell a special code to the cashier upstairs. Then you’d be allowed to enter the back room, where a door opened up to a big stairway that leads to Musutafu’s biggest underground casino.

The people here were dressed formally, with most of them covering their identity in some way or the other. This casino was frequented by the biggest villains, dealers, and names in all of Musutafu. More than just gambling went down in here. Big names came here to make deals and agreements on territories, missions, deals, and the like.

It was a dangerous place, but things have changed over the past one and a half years. Midoriya was fifteen now, newly having started his third year in middle school. Puberty was in full swing, and he had grown rapidly in both height and muscle. His face had grown harsher with the slight loss in baby fat.

He tch’d, or at least wanted to. Midoriya’s body language was stone cold, his exterior leaving no trace of his feelings.

He hadn’t slept in a while and doing all this math to keep count of all the cards used and left, while reading the other's body language, calculating his next move, and trying to gather information for his mission, left him rather irritated.

Especially when one of the players he was playing against was such a douchebag.

The young adult in front of him had his face stretched in a wide smirk, blindingly white teeth visible.

The other three players weren’t saying anything, but Midoriya could tell they too were annoyed by him.

The spoiled blonde brat had girls draped over him and diamonds embedded in his teeth. He kept taunting everyone at the table.

“C’mon fourth-grader, can’t ya use your pea-sized brain faster?”, Midoriya barely kept his eye from twitching.

I already know you’re bluffing, Midoriya thought to himself. While he recognized taunting and distracting, as an actual tactic in high stress situations like these, the way this guy’s spit was flying around was just plainly disgusting.

I’m not struggling with keeping track of the cards or my next move stupid blonde, I’m trying to get information on her.

Midoriya had finally caught some more leads to his case, and it all led to the woman to his right. She looked unsuspecting and was smirking no matter what happened in the game. Her fingers were decked in rings and she had a black tattoo on her neck, reminding him of a certain someone.

Midoriya couldn’t stop himself from gritting his teeth, but to the others, it only seemed like the blonde’s taunts were getting to him. They looked surprised; he had never loosed his blank expression.

Inwardly he cursed to himself, she could absolutely not suspect him. He was lucky that he had an excuse this time. He never lost his cool, but of course, when reminded of her it was an exception.

“I raise,” Midoriya answered.

He noticed the douchebags nostrils flare, but the man still confidently barked out, “You think ya got a chance ugly?! Raise some more! I’ll win it all!”.

Again, Midoriya resisted the urge to roll his eyes and maybe deck him in the face.

Ugly? Dumbass, you can’t even see me. You’re the only one by this table who doesn’t cover their identity, and what a shame that is, huh.

Midoriya stared blankly at the man, not showing any reaction. This seemed to agitate the blonde enough to yell, “ALL IN, I’LL GO FUCKING ALL IN!”.

Midoriya raised one eyebrow.

Shit, he’s easy.

Pushing forward all his chips, Midoriya continued to stare at the man, letting a cocky expression cover his face.

All color drained from the young adult’s face.

At the count of three, they put forward their cards. Only Midoriya and the douchebag were left of this round, 2 million yen between them.

Midoriya’s flush looked up from the desk, easily beating the blonde’s useless cards. The greenette had been right, blondie didn’t even have a pair.

“You fucking cheater! You knew my card-,“ As fast as lightning, two security guards had knocked him out. They didn’t tolerate outbursts like that, every game was observed to secure cheat-less playing.

Ignoring the blonde’s limp body, Midoriya updated his calculations on the cards left. Quickly done, he focused on the woman again. By his info gathering, she was the owner of the casino’s wife’s secretary.

Yes, it may seem hopeless, but if he could confirm her identity and ask her nicely it could lead to the motherfucker’s house.

It all depended on his ability to win this match. They all were betting high sums of money, and by Midoriya’s info gathering, this secretary was desperately in need of it cause of all her loans catching up.

Right now, she was in the lead, but that was all a part of his plan. When she was the surest of her victory, filled to the brim with relief and confidence, he would start to slowly take it all back. She would get frightened at the sudden losses and become more reckless.

The casino’s owner was a scary man, Midoriya had heard. His wife just as frightening. He could understand not wanting to backstab them and get on their bad side.

That’s why, to ensure that the secretary would give him his answers later, he needed to make her lose everything.

The woman wasn’t unfamiliar with this casino, as she came by at least once a week. Often winning, and with a good head on her shoulders, Midoriya assumed that she was pretty confident in her victory.

She didn’t recognize him, not when his usual mask was in his backpack. If she knew who she entered a game with, she would realize what a mistake it was.

This last year, Midoriya had become a regular at the casino, and of course, his reputation had skyrocketed. While the fame had its upsides, Midoriya had to hide his usual identity for times like this.

They continued a couple of rounds, but now that the blonde was gone and the other player had just lost, it was the two of them left.

The secretary gathered all the chips in front of her, not caring to organize them. Meanwhile, Midoriya’s chips were always perfectly stacked.

The dealer gave each of them their cards and placed the three cards in the center. They were playing a classic game of Texas Hold’em.

This was Midoriya’s favorite part of poker, bluffing. He relaxed his body language and looked up at his opponent. Her jaw was slightly tense, and her pinky finger pressed harder than usual on her cards.

She’s trying to decide whether to risk it or not.

According to his calculations, she couldn’t have gotten any picture cards of significance, and the only pair possible was below 9.

A straight flush would be a possibility, if the only four left wasn’t in Midoriya’s hand. Most likely she’s gotten a pair and the only queen left. It was a good hand, but they were risking millions of yen, and she didn’t seem to be counting the cards. She had no idea that the chance of Midoriya getting two pairs with the remaining cards, was only a 0,18869%.

Looking down, Midoriya focused on altering his body language; tense his shoulders just the tiniest bit, flicking his eyes more than usual, breathe through his mouth a little.

She caught on and seemed to grow more sure of herself. Hoping to scare him, she threw forward five black chips, each worth 150 000 yen each. Hesitating a little Midoriya mirrored her amount.

The dealer put forward the next card, but she didn’t give any reaction. Nothing new matched Midoriya’s cards either but that was okay. He didn’t need good cards to win.

Midoriya winced a little with his eyes, knowing she would be watching. Deciding he didn’t gain anything, she pushed forward half her money. Approximately 6 million yen was now in the center.

Fidgeting a little his thumb Midoriya pushed the same amount forward, never raising more than her. Her nose twitched for half a second, she seemed irritated.

The next card was dealt out, and a little hope seemed to come back to her eyes. She either had two pairs, or one queen and three of a kind. Either way it didn’t matter.

The secretary smirked at him and pushed 20 black chips forward. Here was Midoriya’s opportunity. Relaxing his shoulders, he abruptly looked up and kept eye contact.

She looked startled by his change and even more surprised when he raised more than her.

The calm and classic piano playing in the background didn’t seem to match the tension between them. Now that Midoriya had put forward 30 black chips, the smirk faded from her face.

The secretary only had 20 black chips left. The chips of other colors weren’t worth much compared to a black one. Midoriya himself only had 10 black chips left, but the way he was staring at her, completely void of his former insecure self, alarmed her.

“Do you answer, secretary?” The color drained from her face and her eyes widened in shock.

Wh- what the. How does he know- My mask, I’m wearing a mask.

Midoriya chuckled lowly, this went better than he had planned.

Under absolutely no circumstance were people allowed to know who she was connected to. Luckily for her, Midoriya had said it within only her hearing range.

Her voice was shaking, “I- I fold.”

Midoriya grinned and showed his cards. At the sight, her cards fell out of her hand. She had a triple and a queen like he guessed. Meanwhile, his hand had been utter trash. The secretary had been completely fooled, and as a result, lost most of her money.

They continued, but with the newfound fear and desperation she was feeling, the young teenager quickly managed to win. He left the table and collected the money, the woman sat there shocked. As he moved to leave the casino, he knew she was going to follow him.

Moving at a little quicker pace, he turned around and waited for her to come. And just like that, a shadow turned the corner.

“Listen kid, I don’t know what the fuck your playing at, but I’m not letting you out alive with information you’re not supposed to know. And my fucking money too.” Her voice was shaking angrily, and she hastily stepped towards him.

He didn’t back away.

“Oh, really now?” He knew that her quirk made the keratin in her body many times stronger than a normal human’s, meaning her nails, hair, and top layer of skin had an advantage. It was the nail part that made the greenette wary.

Midoriya had seen them while they were playing, her painted nails were sharpened and long, easily making makeshift weapons.

His right hand was ready to fetch the hidden gun in his jacket anytime. No way he came unprepared to places like this.

“But what about your debt secretary? Even Kairuu doesn’t know of that, hm?”

Her boss was named Tadeka Kairuu, wife of the casino’s owner Tadeka Eijino. They counted themselves as elites, weirdly insistent on not acquainting with anything other than the high-class.

“You fuck-“

As she stepped dangerously closer, he lit the lighter he had in his hand.

“Ah ah ah, don’t think you have the upper hand here.” He gestured to the check of money he held, the one they had just played over. “I know how desperate you are for this. You loaned even more money to be able to enter the game, and now all-“

He stepped closer, “is-”

She was trembling, whether with fury or fear, he didn’t know.

“lost.”

She squinted her eyes, not wanting to witness all that money burn.

“Unless… you answer some of my questions.”

Tomorrow night, he would finish this. Now that he had all he needed of equipment and information, he could complete his one-and-a-half-year-long goal.

Two weeks ago, the secretary had folded under his little interview, telling him everything he needed to know, with the promise of getting her money back.

He should probably feel bad about knocking her out and leaving her there, with no more than 250 yen, but hey, she could probably afford an ice cream with that at least... maybe.

Midoriya felt lucky she answered without making much fuss, he didn’t want to resort to violence.

His new hoodie would get bloodstained!

Anyways, he had used the past two weeks to perfect his plan, and tomorrow, he would finally be able to murder Tadeka Eijino.