Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izumi knew for a while the universe hates her. That's just a fact. Her mom left her when she was outed as a conduit. Cause leaving a baby is totally justified when people with powers like hers did horrible things. It wasn't illegal to be a conduit. But the law also didn't stop people from mistreating her cause of it . But she also can't even make the damned power work. Anyway so again the universe hates her but that means she has to make her own luck. Considering no-one cared about her since she was young.

Being a vigilante was the perfect way to at least do some good. And if she beat some people that deserved it to get her anger out that's a bonus.

Something flew past her head and she was back in the real world. Yes she was thinking of all the bad choices that got her to this point. Sue her will ya? How did she even get here you ask? Well it starts like any good story. With vandalism!
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Right. She was painting a graffity over a billboard of Endeavour. A small evil mustache and a speech bubble saying "I like to chew gum and eat AllMight's ass and i hate gum." Yes an utter genius artist she is, thanks. Her self aggrandisement lasted till she heard a crash in the distance . Climbing the billboard the greenette saw a guy with bags in hand climbing out a bank transport. Pulling her face covering and hood over her face and head she starts climbing down and then fell on some trash bags for a softer landing.

When she arrived the car looked totalled. 'Hopefully the drivers were ok.' The greenette thought before she inspected the guy. Guy was a foreigner from the looks of it. Hispanic,bald with tattoos. He seemed satisfied of the money he got. The villain dashed turning into smoke and started running away with the money.

Izumi rushes the drivers inside. She found them unconscious,breathing heavily. Otherwise unhurt. Using the phone that was on one of them to call the medics.

"119 What is your Emergency?"

Making her voice sound deeper the conduit talked.
"Yes i am here in Musutafu near the city center. A villain has attacked a bank transport. the people inside seem fine but the villain is getting away . Come quickly."

"Understood an ambulance and heroes should be on their way please stay where you are. Ummm hello? Are you still there?" The conduit was indeed not there. She was instead running after the villain. She couldn't let him get away.

Thankfully the villain didn't seem like he knew what he was doing. The whole way was marked. Its rather easy to follow someone when you know what to look for, honestly. A few loose banknotes around here(that she collected for a good cause), a dent in a pole there, a burning building in the distance? Yeah that checks out to be honest. You can bet she went to it.
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You know Izumi would tell you her whole plan was calculated to perfection. And it would have been..........
'Fire ball!' She mentally screamed.

If she wasn't so bad at math. She dodged as smoke bullets kept flying around her. Ducking behind a crate, she heard yelling. "What do you want hero wannabe? You can't stop me."

The green daredevil popped her head to comment.
"That sounds so cliché my friend." She barely finished and ducked again as a smoke shot hit the create near where her head was.

"Shut up! Noone can touch me so that means no one can stop me."

"Putting all the money on that bet seems dumb. One day someone will find a weakness in that my friend."

"Im not your friend, buddy."

"Well I'm not your buddy, pal."

"Well im not your pal either,guy."

"Well I ain't a guy so suck some nuts and give the money back."

The smocker did a double take on that.
"But you sound like a guy."

"I'm trans still waiting to go on my meds."

"Oh cool sorry for assuming. Is that why you following me you need the money? I can give you some and we go our separate way." 'at least h-she isn't after the other thing.' Hank thought killing kids was distasteful.

"Really? Wait no! focus you moron. Im not following you cause i need the money. I'm trying to see what you want to do with them. Then i will choose to let you go or not. So why did you steal the money? You didn't kill the cops inside so I'm thinking you at least aren't irredeemable like muscular or some others wannabe serial killers."

A sigh was heard and a thud.
"All i want is to give my daughter a good life and to live in peace. This world won't let my kind do that so I have to resort to this. Do you think im not tired ? To keep doing this not knowing if my kid will see me again the next day. It's hard as fuck and stressful."

Izumi couldn't relate to that more. well maybe less the kid part. if she died she would be surprised if anyone would even bother to bury her. And the teen said as much.
"Ha yeah i get you. Well minus the kid I'm very much alone in this world. Still curious if people would bother to bury me after I'm dead or not you know?"

A humourless chuckle escaped the man.
"Yeah i get that feeling. Don't worry you will find someone too one day. You seem young. Names Hank by the way if we are gonna keep talking might as well introduce ourselves right?" Hank let the begs fall and he sat on a crate.

Izuku took a risk. Got up,walked over and spoke.

"Nice to meet you Hank my name is Izumi. Are you a conduit as well?"

Hank's eyes got a light to them at that.
"Ah you too? It's annoying really,at first it was cool being able control smoke. It was enticing,made me feel invincible. Until your prediction was right someone managed to best me,threw me in prison. I escaped came here and then was forced to do it again . I need to do better for my daughter I can't keep doing this. My friends believe in me changing so I can't let them down. Thanks for listening kid i feel like i know what I have to do now." Izumi raised her hand for a highfive.

Hank gave his fellow conduit a highfive . In that moment The world felt different for Izumi like she finally got the last piece of the puzzle well more like the second last there was still something missing. An energy passes between the two only Izumi seemed to notice however.

It was a sweet moment till the doors exploded and Burnin' the boss of the flaming sidekicks walked inside. Her burning eyes locked onto them and the conduits knew they were fucked. Hank turned to smoke and went out the window. Izuku like the smart woman she was. wanted to go through the same window but it was blocked by flames.

"Stop this instant villains and you might live to see tomorrow." Burnin' yelled chucking fire like baseballs.

Izuku now slightly crispy took that warning shot as a sign she should think of something better. 1.Not getting arrested for something she didn't do and 2.definitely not getting beaten to death by that hottie. those were some good goals. She can see the light of Burnin' hair as the hero ran after her. Throwing fire balls and yelling.

"Stop this instant and you might see the light of tomorrow." Izumi saw a vent and in her head a vision of smoke passing through it. Risking it all she jumped feeling every atom break apart and fly through the vent the next second she was on the roof. She needed to run but she stared at her hands in fascination. Her eyes burned with tears of joy. Her power. She finally had it. It was here and hers at last.

The new formed smoke conduit got to running and decided to dash across the rooftops.

first went well the second she miscalculated hit her head and landed in a dumbster. Yep the universe still fucking hates her. Just not enough to kill her.
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Wall running is very hard when you can't manage the distance of your jumps Izumi has realised. Its not the first time she has done it mind you. It's just harder. Its weird. It's like all the powers associated with conduits activated at once. Her legs jumped further, her healing was almost instant even her sense of smell was better. So all her measurements are off and that's bad when traversing rooftops.

She stopped running and turned to see if Burnin' was on her tail. Looking around and.

'Nope no badass flaming haired bitch in sighed. Good a break.' she exhaled and fell on her ass. She looked at her hand smoke dancing across her fingertips . She stood there admiring it . Her lips curled in a smirk. "After all these years. Hahahaha I still can't believe it. Thanks Hank hope the time i bought you will help with your escape. Alright and back to work." The conduit stood up and looked around checking for any crimes happening. Moving from roof to roof always making sure she doesn't undershoot. She realises her eyesight was also way better.

She sees a truck parking and guys quickly getting out and rushing into a construction site with a machine.'Weird. What are they doing there at this hour?' she used smoke dash to get down quickly through a vent. Looking at the truck it was a moving truck no distict marking it has a registration plate. The conduit took a photo just in case they get away. "I didn't see how many they were. I need to be quiet about this."

The green smoker went in . Hearing an engine starting there was the group. She jumped behind a stack of bricks. Looking ahead there were 4 guys, 2 drilling in the ground with their quirks and 2 standing guard. The conduit listened in when she heard them talk.

"Dude are we sure this is the right place? This place has been untouched for years. Something about tools not working right." The first questioned. A big guy with some weird skin and drills for hands. Asked the second someone with a clear mole mutation.

"This is exactly why this is the right place. She told us the crystals fuck with electricity when not properly contained. It must mean they are hidden here ."

"If you say so dude." The first one still looked unsure.

The second looked at him annoyed. "Look you idiot if we dont find them its just a few hours of work lost. If we find them we will get paid big time. So stop waisting time and keep digging."

"Alright alright no need to get rilled up."

Izumi looked around. They were trying to steal something important and probably dangerous . She needs to stop them. But also can't fight all of them now. Cause her powers are making her movements unstable. She needs a weapon. While searching a bit further into the construction site. The world slowed down. It was a chance encounter but it felt almost destined when her eyes landed on it.

The rough,rusted,cold steel,the dangerous pointed tip,metal linked together long to roughly 4 meters in length. Cold,hard,merciless. Its like life itself made into an object.

It felt fitting for her to punish people with a representation of life. The conduit took it admired it for either a few seconds or an hour she didn't know. It swung around her arms broke in two pieces one for each arm. It felt good. it felt right. She realized then and there . She was judgement. She was life. And she was gonna punish the wicked.

In the distance the two criminals heard a laugh. It sounded demented and sadistic.It brought a feeling of doom to their very souls. the guards looked at each other and they went to investigate it. Hoping it was nothing.

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Kiniku hated dark abandoned places. But he had a job to do joining this group was perfect. Just small precise heists. Low risk relatively good reward medium work.

This one though. It was way bigger then the other ones. It was way more dangerous and honestly Kiniku wished the boys didn't accept it. A mysterious unknown woman gets four random thugs to get something unspecified from a location long abandoned. If sketchy as fuck was a scenario. It would be this. A sound echoed through the place. he looked at his partner Rokka. Both had feelings for each other or something like that . And were actually planning to go on a date after this heist was over. But the sounds made both unsure if they will see the sun's light again.

Both watched alien a few days ago. What a mistake that was. This place helt the same the eerie atmosphere the sounds of something crawling around, even the sound of the tail being dragged across the floor. Kiniku heard the sound again. It. he wasn't sure what it was but he will never forget it. Something from the darkness grabbed Rokka. Who screamed as he was swallowed by the darkness. An impact and silence. Kiniku activates his quirk and stumbled into the room. All he sees is his future boyfriend on the floor. Shoulder bleeding and tied to the ground by moving smoke. Eyes full of terror locked onto him. Yelling at him to run.

Rokka couldn't speak but him looking up is enough indication that Kiniku has likely fallen into a trap and is positively fucked. Looking up he can't even scream as a cloud of smoke falls over him and his ability to breathe was restricted. Then something went around his neck and he really couldn't breathe now. The thug starts swinging side to side trying to grab the thing around his neck or whoever the fuck is on his back but a hit with something metallic makes him fall to his knee . Dark spots form in the corners of his vision and all he can do is looked at his downed partner before a hit in the back of the head takes his consciousness entirely.

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Rokka was not having a great time. He felt great it was a relatively easy job with high pay. The guy he liked asked him out. He was excited. But now he was tied to the floor bleeding from the shoulder and watching his partner get strangled and saw the light leave Kiniku's eyes from the hit that hopefully only knocked him out. And now he got a semi decent look at whatever the fuck attacked him and it looked like a demon from hell. 'Perfect' . The head was hooded with baggy clothes on its body smoke fluctuating around its form but in the dark the one thing was utterly unmissable were it's eyes. Cold as death itself yet burning with toxic green rage. After the demon put Kiniku down it tied him with smoke and walked away dragging the chains on the floor.'What was that thing? Is Kiniku alright? I can't move i hope the guys can save us. Are we going to die here?'
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"Ha ha i see it the money are as good as ours." Driller exclaimed cheerfully. Digger looked around confused.

"Yo drill where are Brawl and Rocksteady?"

"Probably went to fuck in a corner give them a minute"

Driller was too absorbed in getting the treasure from the ground to hear Digger get pulled in the darkness and subdued.
"We are gonna be rich boys !" He exclaimed raising in the air his drill arm in celebration. The thief was confused . " Boys where are you? Dig? Did you join the twosome or what?" He turned frantically when a sound of something moving came to his ears and he felt the air shift. "Guys this is not funny. Let's get the treasure and get out of here."

Driller turned around and he saw death marching towards him from the darkness. A hooded figure slightly levitating with chains on their arms. The chains were dripping and those dammed green eyes promising death. Driller entered fight or flight he decided to go down swinging.

He swong his drill and it FAIZED THROUGH'EM. ' Well shi-' a chain was swung around his neck. Pulled him closer . His face met a punch. Once. Twice . Thrice. The air was beaten out of him by a fist to the stomach.

He fell on his knees.His nose was bleeding. His breathing was heavy. Spots were forming in his vision. A kick sent him into a crate . "Why are you doing this? Do you want the cores for yourself? Just take em man I don't need'em." Yes you can call him a coward but he didn't want to die man. The figure stopped on top of him a boot planted next to his head and a voice spoke.

"What are they for? Who told you about them?"

The voice was younger then Driller expected but he ain't about to check their I.D.

" I dont know what they are for. I was only told to come here and find them get em and get paid for it. Who told me ? Ah Sh-she didn't give me a name but she wore a paper white rabbit mask. Didn't sound Japanese. She looked like a twig could snap her in two. She wore a school uniform. That's all i know i swear!" He hoped he said enough to live to see tomorrow and not get murdered the day after. Not his luck as the figure kept pressing.

"Give me a number,a location,anything or else." The figure started pressing their boot into his shoulder. The pressure increased till it was clear his shoulder will pop out his joint so Driller relented. " Fine! Fine! we were gonna deliver them to a warehouse in Tokyo bay in a week. The paper with the address is in my pocket." The foot came off his shoulder he was safe. Until he heard.

"Hope you didn't lie or i will break the other one."

"Other whaAAAAAT?" the boot came back with enough force to break his shoulder his humerus and the crate behind him. Suddenly his voice died out as smoke locked him in place. And a hand snaked into his pocket taking his phone and the paper with the address. And another hand took his wallet cause this really isn't his day.

"Do yourself a favour and get off the streets or next time i catch you I won't be as nice as today."
The figure said as the wallet was emptied and discarded, his phone opened and the paper took.
'THIS IS HIM BEING NICE???' his thoughts were cut short when a hit knocked him out.

"Alright lets see what's in here." She approached the hole seeing it light up when she stepped near with a brilliant blue light. "Definitely doing something right then?" Looking in the hole there was a trapdoor that was likely teared open by the guys upstairs. ' Fuck it' down the rabbit hole she went and it was a room. it looked like an abandoned lab.

Looking around she noticed a few thing. One a desk full of papers, two an operation table with a terminal near it and three a shelf full of the shiny chrystals that let her see inside so well.

" So to which one should I go first? my ADHD tells me the shiny things. My OCD says the papers cause then i can make the desk cleaner. My instrusive thoughts scream for the table that someone was likely murdered on." She scratched her head really wanting a 3 sided coin right about now. Thinking more she found herself in front of the shiny things. 'Guess my ADHD won this time.' the conduit shrugged and went to touch one of the crystals when the light from them got absorbed into her hand her body started floating in a bubble. Her head felt hot and bursting like it was trying to process too much at once. Too many ideas, images and information crammed on each other. She tried to sort through em but she passed out from the overstimulation.

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"Ugh my fucking head. What happened?" Izumi woke up on the floor of the lab confused. She looked around saw the crystals but they were no longer glowing. She tried to think of what happened but her brain was foggy. The conduit rose to her feet wobbly and went to the desk. Looking through the papers she tried but she couldn't process what she was reading. 'Fuck this shit.' pissed she started folding the papers and shoved them in her pockets what she couldn't she took photos of. Izumi went to get out of the hole but there wasn't a ladder and she didn't trust her body so she dashed out.

It was still dark but the lights were on now. Izumi spotted something. Someone was checking the guy she knocked unconscious. 'Shit i dont have the energy to deal with them. Imma just leave.'

"And were do you think you are going honey?"
'Drat' Izumi turned around and saw the r-rated hero Midnight looking at her with an interesting expression whip in hand ready to fight. 'Need to bluff'.

"Apologies hero."she bowed. "I didn't expect someone to come here. I planned to call the authorities on my way out. What are you doing here if i may inquire?"

Midnight sighed. "Good to see you weren't leaving these guys for dead. For what i was doing ?
i was called to find a lost criminal that escaped Burnin'. Searching around I found a truck in front of the construction site that should be abandoned. And what do I find? 4 delicious men stuck to the floor beated. Seems i am not the only one that likes to play rough." The hero's eyes turned sharp at that last part.

"Look Midnight i had a hard night. Do you mind just letting me walk away." She wanted to sleep so bad.

" I will let you walk away when you tell me what were you doing here? And down there? Also what are those papers you are holding." Midnight pointed at the papers Izumi decided to take with her anyway. She couldn't leave them down there. Leaving evidence is a bad idea.

"I was stopping these guys from taking whatever was down there. As for these papers not sure yet. Im too tired to read them unfortunately. Neat i answered your question can i leave now? I really need a nap."
Midnight heard her mumbling that last part.

"Oh i can help you sleep no problem dear. Let's dance." She ripped her costume and was ready to fight.

Izumi sighed really not feeling like getting arrested. So she dashed away not noticing the way Midnight's eyes widened. Stumbled into a crate but kept running she heard Midnight in the distance. "Oh i love when pray runs away. Makes it more fun to catch you."
You can bet your ass that made izumi run faster and try to dash further. She (like an idiot) went up instead of out the building. In her stupor it seemed like a good idea.

It wasn't.
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"Oh you made me run a lot you naughty boy. Thinking you can escape me? That was adorable. Now it's time to stop the foreplay and get to the action." 30 stories high, back against the edge and front against a sadist. Yep today fucking sucks. Getting powers not included.

She looked at the ground below. Her mind suddenly cleared and an image came to the front. Izumi floating using smoke from her arms to keep herself up.She shoved the papers in her clothes and turned towards the hero. "Sorry to dissapoint but one I'm a girl and two I really have to go to bed. See ya." "Wait don't."

The conduit jumped off. Using the smoke to keep herself afloat. It was wobbly but she managed to land on a building outside the site. She admired her hands for a few moments and took off running again. Going home this time.

Chapter Text

Izumi landed face first into her bed. 'Finally home.' Her home was a shitty apartment in an shitty neighbourhood. Not much luxury for someone with no parents unfortunately. Eh she managed. Izumi doesn't need adults. Being alone all your life really forces you to not need them. 'Its 4 am Kami I have a job tomorrow why am I doing this to myself?' she fell asleep,clothes unchanged.

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A beeping kept hitting her ears. She yelled at the Gods for making it morning so soon. Reaching over she stopped her alarm and dragged herself up. There was the sound of papers with her movements and it clicked. "Yeah. Forgot to take them out last night." The papers were pretty crumbled but they were readable. Climbing out of bed Izumi started reading.

"Blast cores are made from a radioactive material that gives conduits more power. Testing has led me to believe they can be used to take the powers away. Oh shit. Well good fucking thing i took the papers away no need for the government to know about that.

But i should have taken the cores too. I'm such a moron. I need to take a bag when i go out..... Well from what's written here the cores are useless when empty so silver linings i guess. These papers are all about conduits it's so intere-WAIT WHAT THE. Conduits can trade powers amongst themselves a clear example is the conduit Delsin Rowe who has shown having multiple abilities that are the same as his allies. Speculation has led to believe conduits with copy abilities would be more common then copy quirks considering the nature of where their powers come from. Actually could quirks and conduit powers come from a similar place? Can a person have both? Alright my head hurts and i have to get to work . Time to stop reading."

The conduit took her vigilante costume off, put on a pair of jeans,a hoodie,her favourite red shoes and the work backpack. 'Alright last check.' padding her pockets she counted. 'Phone,wallet,headphones and keys perfect.' Putting the headphones in she selected her favourite song. ' Say what you want about the old man but he knows his music.' Singing and dancing along she jumped from her window onto the next building.

" I ain't the average sicko. I'm dead just like disco. My bank account is 000. Oh no! 'oh yeah i need to remember to pay the illusion guy again this month. Would be easier if my neighbours didn't hate me but who cares how they feel about me. As long as they don't try anything funny I'm not gonna expose their secret. I need a place to live just as much as they do.' I was a teenage outlaw with no worries on my mind. And now im getting older my heart is growing colder. Oh that's fine ." Like this the vigilante went from building to building, down a rail, up a smoke vent till she found her destination in record time. Her new powers sure made traveling between the districts much easier. It still makes her smile having powers after so long.

The building looked remote, a simple corner store, white painted with Okateika written over the door. It looked honestly out of place with the ...less refined architecture around. Its the only postal service that delivers in the Airin-chiku district.The job pays well enough, it's dangerous but getting the chance to beat the shit out of people AND get paid Izumi will take it no questions asked. The owner even buys whatever shit Izumi grabs from those people so that's a plus. Entering Izumi saw the owner. Demona Kigyoka sitting at the counter arranging papers. He looked up and smiled at her like .... a parent would. She would rather not think on that line any further.

A simple fella. Man in his 40's bald with purple eyes,kinda skinny,kind smile on his face, absolutely innocent looking. Dont let it fool you though. He is the ultimate opportunist when it comes to business. Married the woman that managed this shop after she took it in the divorce from her husband. He grew up in Airin-chiku so he knows the sort of money people would pay for his services. He buys and sells anything,repurposes what can't be sold. The owner would rather die than let something with value be wasted. Also delivering stuff all over the country through contacts. You want something transported without questions and to be cheap? OKATEIKA is the place. Need anything done to your house in secret? You guessed it. Need to get rid of something incriminating? Do you even need to ask?

'Even with that in mind he is rather kind. Helping the people renovate their shops for cheaper then any other construction business. He gave me this job and even the phone I'm currently using. Its not new by any stretch but it's usable and its more of a chance anyone has ever given me honestly.'

"Yo kid what's that look you giving me for?"

"Oh sorry i was thinking. How are you sir?"
She hoped to change the subject. Not feeling up to talk about how she felt about the man.

Mr.Kigyoka went along. "Business as usual need a few packages delivered through the gang territories feeling up for it kid?"

Her smile was turned awfully feral at that. "Do you even need to ask sir?"

He sighed. "I guess not. Be safe there kid. Try to not get in trouble also you seem awfully energetic today something going on?" Demona asked cause the kid wasn't a morning person. So to see her this active, this early was weird for him.

"Glad you asked. I finally got my powers. It's great. i feel like i can fight every person in the district."

That made the man light up. Half is general happiness for her ,the other had to be from the money he might get from her having actual powers to use now
"That's awesome kid so what's your power? I've been curious about it since I've known you."

Showing a smoking hand she explained. " Seems to be a sort of smoke manipulation though I feel it's possibly more then that? Still not sure. Got it last night. Oh yeah. How much can you give me for these? I got them from a group that wanted trouble."
Izumi put on the table 3 phones, a wallet, a knife and a watch.

"Damn kid you really robbed them blind. Had they pissed you off?" The man couldn't help but question.

"They shouldn't have tried stealing. i just turned the tables on them." That cheeky smirk alwasy makes the man smile as well.

"Alright kid . Lets see 104,035 yen. Nice job kid you hit bank. Didn't rob a businessman did you?" Demona's quirk is always cool to see. His quirk (value) can see the value of an item just by looking at it for a few seconds. It made his eyes glow misty purple.

"They looked like normal criminals to me. So i dont know." The conduit shrugged not exactly caring if she took it from someone that has money. Those deserve it the most anyway.

"Well nice work. Here is the money, a list with the addresses and there are your packages." He pointed to a table with 4 packages on it one was bigger then the others, one was small and two were medium .

"Thanks sir i should be done by noon with them." Putting the packes in her back back she turned to leave.

"Well lets see if those powers help speed along the process."

Her smile was so wide it was blinding." Im gonna show you how much they speed things up."
And with that the carrier left.

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Normally going around with headphones in your ears would be a bad idea. If you dont want to get robbed. But Izumi isn't normal, she awaits the moment when someone would touch her to kick their ass. Even though people should know who she is by now. Some just never learn. It's funny really. She feels a hand tapping her shoulder. 'And it's show time.'

The conduit dashed a step from the opponent and turned to hit them but stopped herself when she realized the opponent was a girl. She was tall with her hair in a high ponytail her clothes looked luxurious. Izumi dropped her stance and took her headphones out.

"Why did you touch me ?" The rich girl looked slightly embarrassed.

"Well I wanted to ask for your help with an important matter. But you didn't hear me so i tried to get your attention . I vividly apologize for scaring you." The girl bowed, actually bowed and apologized this shit will need getting used to.

"Look rich girl you will need to learn the rules of this place if you plan to stick around here . Actually good question why are you around here?" The conduit didn't know why someone so regal? She couldn't think of a better term. The girl looked so proper and rich Izumi was half tempted to rob her now and save the girl the trouble later.

"Well i wanted to learn about this place and it's citizens." She spoke so genuinely and naïvely. It would have killed Izumi's black heart if she wasn't so tired from last night.

"You will die robbed in a ditch before sunset." That didn't stop her from saying it how it is.

The rich girl paled at that. " If that fact is surprising, you really shouldn't be here. I suggest you leave, return to your rich luxurious life and forget about us 'ordenary people'. It would be in your advantage truthfully."

"You know the rules of this place, can you guide me?"
Again that innocence was blinding. But Izumi is a sleep deprived vampire she would stare down the sun at this point.

"Love I have a job to do. So unless you want to follow me around i really feel you should go home." 'Final chance rich girl.'

"Alright lead the way then."

Izumi took a deep breath. "You really aren't giving up are you richey?"

Richey over there had the balls to look smug. "Nope."

"Fine. Follow me. Also my name is Izumi . Dont ask for family name I don't have that shit. And yours?"

They fell in step as Richey introduced herself. "My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. You can call me however you want if i get to use your given name Izumi."

"Thanks Richey. Anyway what do you want to know about this beautiful shithole most of us call home ?"

Miss Momo looked rather uncomfortable. "Sorry but you have a rather vulgar vocabulary. Do you mind toning it down a bit." Izumi usually would tell her to take a hike but the girl looked again so innocent like a puppy. Izumi just sighed 'This whole day is gonna be a drag i just know it. Hopefully i can kick the shit out of someone later.'

"Fine mistress money bags, I'm gonna try but don't ask me to speak politely. Lesson one this ain't the type of place where manners exist. Being polite makes you look weak and exploitable if someone tries anything tell them straight or be ready for a bad time. Clear?"

Momo looked uncomfortable like she didn't expect this place to be like this. 'Must be nice to have such a sheltered life.' looking up here was the first adress.
She cut off whatever miss moneybags wanted to say.

"Anyway can you stay here for a moment? I need to deliver to this address? Also stay away from anyone with the colour red on them."
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Izumi went inside going past a bunch of guys that were doing their jobs but she could feel their eyes on her. She went up using a smoke vent and ended up out at the top nearly falling off the roof. 'Need to practice more.' She thought annoyed. Going to a trapdoor she knocked on it and heard yelling. "Who the fuck is up there? Get down here so i can see you and no funny business." A voice ordered slightly startled.

Izumi opened it slowly and slid inside. 4 people inside dressed casually but one stood out. He was tall with black hair, wore a white suit and had a manhole cover as a shield on his arm. They lowered their arms when they realized who it was. The dressed man sighed.

"Ah Izumi man you trying to get killed? Why were you on the roof? Actually how did you get up there anyway? This is the only entry." The man launched into a barrage of questions.

"Sorry I got my powers and accidentally launched myself on the roof and nearly offit."

The suited man smirked
"Finally got your powers eh? Happy for you. So have you thought on my invitation? Wait what was that last part?"

"Don't matter. Look Mr. Yonenaka im all about kicking the shit out of people. But i prefer it when its on my own terms and by myself . Not trying to offend but I can't accept."

The man sighed again. "Fine at least accept calling me Rojiya. Mr. Yonenaka was my father. I prefer making that distinction clear. And back to the proposition, fine if you dont accept it at least know this. If you ever need help come find me and i will help in any way i can. Want it or not you are a honorary member of Abegawa Tenchu Kai and i would do anything for family."

It was Izumi's turn to sigh.'This man can be so stubborn.' "Fine remember to call me if you need someone to save your ass Ro~ji~ya~kun." That last bit made the yakuza burst out laughing. Almost falling from his chair.

"Don't call me that shit again brah. Like what the fuck was that?" Rojiya wipped tears from his eye.

"It don't matter. Anyway I have a package for ya." She took out the big package from her backpack and put it down.

"Ah finally thanks wait a sec, wai-wai-wait and here is your payment." He took out the walled counted and took the money out and handed it to Izumi

Izumi was confused but she took the money. "I thought it was paid for already?"

"It was. This is just a tip for making me laugh. Haven't laughed that well in a while."

"Oh thanks alright i have to go I have someone waiting for me at the entrance." She turned to leave but stopped when she heard the boss speak.

"You mean that girl down there with those guys?"

Izumi somehow teleported near him and said in a deadly calm tone ."Open the window."

Rojiya recognising the tone opened the window and took a step back Izumi down and landed in a ball of smoke. "Hey!!" The guys turned and saw the devil walk out of a ball of flames. And immediately took off running when they saw the toxic green eyes locked onto them. " Shit that's a bio-terrorist run you idiots."

Rojiya looked on and the smile that formed on his face grew into a grin. "Ha this kid is always a riot. See boys this is why i want her to join us." He spoke to the guys behind him they looked and they understood.

_________________________________________________________

Momo was too scared to move. She didn't know what to think of Izumi when they met. The girl looked far more tame compared to most people around. But to learn that Izumi can be this terrifying and is a bio-terrorist. Momo was just frozen and when izumi started walking towards her she closed her eyes she was ready to accept death. But it never came. All she saw when she opened her eyes was Izumi frustrated and worried.

"Hey Momo are you ok? Did those guys do something to you? I swear if they did i will skin them." This felt different from when a servant is worried for her health. It felt nice. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Izumi snap her fingers in her face.

"Yo earth to money bags. What? Did me being revealed as a conduit made you short circuit?"

"No i- ok fine i was scared of you when i realised you were a bio-" "Dont use that word !!!" "Right apologies i meant conduit but honestly i think you being worried about me made "short circuit" as you put it."

"Ha yeah i get that feeling. People don't care about me either. Maybe we are not so different you and i . Ha Kidding. Anyway money bags if you want i can escort you out of here or we can keep going. What do you choose? Or you are too scared of me and just want me to leave?"

That made Momo react. "NO No no I'm fine to keep going and you don't scare me i swear." Izumi looked unconvinced but let it be if Richy wants to keep going who was she to question it?

"Well let's go then. Don't have all day. So Yaoyorozu-sama why do you want to learn about this place? Trying to stake your claim in the war for it?"

The heiress raised an eyebrow at that.
"What war?"

"Oh so you dont know. Basically put there are a bunch of gangs around. And they are fighting against some corporation that's trying to take control of the place. Its not a war in the traditional sense more like both sides try to take control of businesses and stuff. Through out buying each other. So feeling lucky? Wanna try claiming a piece of this heaven for yourself?"

Momo shook her head
"No thanks I'm not much for business. Im trying to be a hero. Deapite their protests my parents agreed to support me."

"That's nice and all. But i would not speak about it around here. Heroes and police are not ... welcome around these parts." Someone was eyeing them when they heard hero. A glare made them turn away.

"Dully noted but im curious how is like being a conduit? I have heard about you a lot on the news but I can not find actual concrete information."

Izumi was thoughtful for a moment before shrugging.
"To be honest i can't really tell you much. Besides being hated for your existence. I actually only got my powers."

"Oh really? How did you acquire them?"

"Can't tell you much besides i touched a guy and a weird crystal." ' a bunch of them but not need to specify that.'

"What did the crystal look like ?"
Izumi raised an eyebrow but felt it wouldn't be trouble to tell her.

"A purple kinda blue crystal about the size of my forearm. It light up before i touched i- where did you get that from?" Izumi had to question the hero wannabe who was writing pretty quickly in a notebook that came from specifically nowhere.

" Apologies. To me conduits are so interesting i had to learn more about you and I can't find about them anywhere. I don't understand why that is."

' I have a choice here. Should i give her the papers I found. I already read them in large and I can't say they would be detrimental mostly. Maybe take out a few about taking powers away. I have to check she won't use it to bite me in the ass though.' "I have an idea but I'm not sure if i should tell you."

Momo was intrigued. "Well i can't give anything but my word that you can trust in me."

"Look money bags. You are rich that's clear, also innocent which is even more so. You want to be one of them. So I'm asking you as a horrible person talking to a good person. If i gave you something that has a lot of information about conduits. Would you help me make my people be better viewed? I have a friend she wants to be a hero too but is so scared of what the world would say about her. So i need-no i beg you to help me make the world more accepting of conduits. She deserves to be happy and I can't help her." Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe her love for Ochako, maybe both and more but Izumi cried asking this stranger to help her. She felt weak and vulnerable and she expected the girl to laugh in her face. But all she saw on that perfect face was understanding,genuine kindness and worry.

"Look Izumi we barely know each other but i feel it was destined for us to meet. I want to become one of them because i want to see people happy and healthy. If i can help your friend in any way i will do it." Izumi wanted to not trust her. But she couldn't. If it truly did bite her in the ass she will make the beast's rampage look miniscule.

"Alright i will take you to my apartment after I've done my job and i will show you everything I've learned about conduits. And maybe you can meet my friend. She is extremely shy so be gentle." With that she turned away and started walking not being able to deal with looking at the rich girl for another second after exposing herself like that.

"I would be happy to accompany you and meet your friend. What's her quir- i mean power?"

The greenete shrugged. "I don't know. She seems scared of it so it's probably something powerful. Just a heads up don't talk about parents,powers and especially don't touch her. She can't deal with physical contact of any sort."

"That sounds like something needing a specialist. Also if she is scared of her power how does she plan to be a hero." Izumi genuinely felt a vessel pop in her forehead. She wanted to get angry but she understood the sentiment.

"Yeah right, cause all the therapists would be climbing over themselves to help a poor, mentally unstable, conduit orphan. Get a grasp on reality. While the government hasn't took our rights away. They sure as shit won't protect us from the fear and hate people have for us. Want to go to a doctor? Sorry,people don't feel comfortable being near a conduit or worse, helping one. Want to live somewhere? Sorry,the owner is scared their building will go to shit the moment a conduit steps into it, want a loving family? Goodluck with that. People are terrified of us when people like Endeavour and AllMight could end their existence with a wave of a hand but we are the monsters? For something one of us did more then half a century ago. And also resolved. People don't know this but a conduit stopped the disaster but the media can't have that. Shit." Well there goes remaining calm. Izumi really hates being sleep deprived. Tired brain is independent brain and that's a recipe for shit like this. Alright try to mitigate damage.

"Look Yaoyorozu I'm sorry. Just forg-" "i didn't know you were treated so poorly." Seeing the noble and composed girl with tears in her eyes was jarring to say the least. But her eyes also seemed to hold a conviction that wasn't there before. The tall girl took Izumi's hands and looked her straight in her eyes. Her tears making trains on her face as she said.

"No one deserves to be treated this poorly. I will do anything in my power to make everything better. I swear on my name as the heiress to the Yaoyorozu empire." The girl took her arms away and put them around the smaller girl taking her in what Izumi imagined a hug was. Said conduit looked shellshocked she just stood there trying to comprehend everything that was happening and failing. Her body melted into the warmth regardless of what her brain was doing. Maybe she could trust the hero wannabe. No one that was cruel could replicate such warmth. It wasn't possible.

Chapter Text

Honestly the rest of the day was a blurr. Her brain overdosed on seratonin and dopamine as she is still holding Momo's hand!! Not sure when it happened and she doesn't care. She would kill anyone for this angel and by the way people got out of their way. They knew it too. The angel in question seemed just as unaware as ever. Talking about random things with Izumi who answered back but her brain wasn't listening to the conversation and she will apologize later to Yaomomo for not paying attention but honestly the contact between their hands was the one things her whole body was concentrating on. And they got home. 'SHIIIIT! Why did I say I would bring her here. Fuck,Fuck,FUCK.'

Her thoughts were cut off as Yaomomo tapped her shoulder with her own. "Sorry i spaced out. Also apologies if the place isn't... to your tastes." And it wasn't in most people's tastes Izumi included. The paint was falling off the walls. It had moss and mold in places and the forniture needed a new nail or screw to stay in place. But hey it was a relatively cheap roof over her preferably unwet hair so she shall not complain. Till a new owner appears and hopefully this one won't be a dick. When you act like a tyrant a revolt will always come.

"Oh heavens. This place looks deplorable. Who is the owner of this building? i shall give him a big peace of my min-mph" she couldn't finish her rant as Izumi covered her mouth.

"Be careful. Don't Ever talk about the owner. People will not be happy with any outsider trying to find that man. I don't know what they would do to you." She slowly uncovered the girl's mouth. Who looked confused and still peeved about the way the room looked.

"But why are they so hush hush about this man? Is he a villain? Are we in danger?" Izumi looked around as if someone would pop out the woodwork to tell on them she got close to Momo's ear and whispered.

"He was a villain. Cruel bastard tried to raise rent till people had enough and got rid of him. They are scared if someone from a gang or whatever find out they will try to get the building and then the jig is up. So the owner should never be mentioned." It was clear the tall girl didn't like this whole thing but she nodded seriously probably aware that Izumi's living situation was dependent on that secret.

"I understand. It's not a secret i like but it isn't mine to discuss. Moving on you said you had some research for me? I'm very excited to learn about it. Truthfully not much is known about conduits and having any sort of material on it could help people understand you better it wo-" a crash from the other room scared both of them. Izumi immediately went to check what happened. She opened the door to find.

Ochako in her vigilante outfit the chains in hand and a broken vase. The two looked like two deers in headlights. Before Izumi remembered that Momo was here and she went to cover her eyes.

Only she accidentally poked her in the eyes.

"AHHH MY EYES." "SORRY I'M SO SORRY." Sounds of skidding made her yell. "OCHAKO GO CHANGE THAT'S NOT AN APPROPRIATE ATTIRE. Here Momo let me check your eyes are ok." Ok crisis averted. For now.
_________________________________________________________

After some nursing and cleaning, everything was calm. Both girls sat at the table with tea. Which Ochako made before dissapearing again without a word. Izumi took a sip and relaxed. She might fell asleep quite frankly. This day was much. Too much if she was honest.

"Is the tea adequate madame Yaoyorozu?" The fake aristocrat voice made Momo crack up.
"Heheh. Oh my goodness." She played along with her own parody. "Quite so miss Izumi. The tea is lovely. An exquisite aroma. While your servant is a bit clumsy she deserves the praise." Izumi chuckled. Momo was so easy to talk to. Definitely not how Izumi imagined a rich girl would be.

"I'm happy you like it. Oh right. Apologies madame but i have to get the papers i promised you. How humiliating for me to forget. I shall be right back." With that she left the room. Momo was relaxing for a minute closing her eyes. She honestly liked the green haired girl for her straight forward demeanor. It was so refreshing to have someone that says directly what they want and what they mean. Momo knew how people saw her. The naïve spoiled child that the world was going to crush at the first real obstacle. It was suffocating. The stares,the whispers,the hidden agendas and schemes, she wished her life was more like this. More like Izumi. While intense, good meaning and just true. Her quiet reminiscing was interrupted by someone breathing on her face?

"Whodoyouworkfor?"
Opening her eyes she nearly fall out of her chair. The girl from before was here. Staring her down and also holding the chair so she didn't fell. It took Momo a minute to understand what she said. Also the staring was really unnerving.

"Wh-at d-do you me-an? I don't work for anyone."
The staring got even more intense. "Thenwhatareyoudoinghere? Whatdoyouwantwithmysister? Ifyouhurtahaironherhead i will make your brain feel the tea i made you." Oh threats of unspeakable violence. Joy. At least she is direct about it,that's lovely.

"I just want to help your sister with something. She helped me today so i want to help her." That seemed to appease the conduit as she backed off and took a seat.

"I apologize for that. But i needed to be sure you are pure enough to be with my sister. You need to understand she took me in and gave me a new life after i, nevermind . Point being i owe her a lot of things,so i needed to be sure you're trustworthy. Girl carries a lot of secrets. So if you hear one keep it to yourself got it?" Momo would be interested by her intensity. If it didn't also feel like a pressure on her shoulders.

"Yeah your sister is great. She helped me a lot too. So i heard you want to become hero. I want to be one too.
What hero do you want to be?" This topic was probably not the best to approach. But she hoped a common interest will maybe ease the tension somewhat.

" I see Izumi talked about me already. And you're meeting her family this quickly. Aren't you moving too fast? Just remember that the walls are not sound proof if you two do anything alone." Momo was very confused what she meant by that. Is playing games that loud?

"What do you mean by that?" As Ochako went to answer Izumi came in a stack of papers in hand and still reading one. "Sorry it took so long. i tried to arrange them somewhat and got stuck reading a few i haven't read this morning. Anyway here's -Oh hey Ochako what are you doing here?"

The conduit scratched her head embarrassed a bit.
"Well i thought it would be good to entertain the guest ,maybe apologize for the incident, that sort of thing. Anyway i said what i had to say so imma return to my room i have homework to finish." Izumi giggled as Ochako walked out of the room.

"Ah she is so nice. Don't you think?" Momo would've mentioned the discussion the two had but something in Izumi's eyes made her swallow her words.

"Y-yah she is definitely nice. Cares about you a lot that's for sure."
That made Izumi laugh harder.
"She outright idolises me. Keeps saying she will pay me back and all that nonsense. I don't need her to take care of me or something. She should finish her studies and do something that makes her happy. That's all the payment I would ever want from her."

That begged Momo to ask." And what about your studies and your future? You look the same age as her so what will you do?" A frown appeared on Izumi's face. She sighed like someone twice her age and looked Momo in the eyes.

"Girl i was alone for the past what? 10,11 maybe 12 years. All the things i know I've learned on my own because they intrigued me or i needed them. No hero school would accept someone like me. A little street rat that's too wild, too violent,too different and can't do the interviews and other nonsense mainstream stuff heroes do. Who would even bother? Did i dream of being a hero once? Sure but that dream is gone, just like that girl back then."

"What about your powers?"
An eyebrow raise.
"What about them?"

"Wouldn't they also mistreat you for being? You know."

"Eh people with quirks also get mistreated. It sucks but a good school with a reputation to keep wouldn't dare. Plus who wouldn't want a big powerful conduit as a hero?" Simple, sound logic.

"Anyway enough hypotheticals here read these. I didn't bring them for nothing." The stack of papers was sleed across the table. The chair Izumi sat on got pulled closer and they started reading together. Discussing points and thinking what it all means. They came to a conclusion. To understand Izumi's power better they would need to learn more about other conduits especially this man Delsin Rowe. And find more of those crystals Izumi found. It would be easier if she just grabbed one last night. She cursed herself for not doing that. Eh she will try maybe there is one still there.

_________________________________________________________

In the halls of the prestigious UA university the sound of heels moving through the corridor was very audible. School hours were over and Midnight had an investigation to do. Stopping before a door she calmed herself. It was necessary to be careful. There is a kid playing vigilante and they got their hands on something possibly dangerous. She wasn't sure what those core relays were there for. Or what did the conduit took from down there. But she will learn after she gets that kid. The door opening took her out of her thoughts. Without much fanfare she stepped in and greeted.

"Good day principal Nezu. I apologize for taking your time like this." The principal was typing away. Most people might take that as him ignoring her but truth was he paid her as much attention as the computer.

"It's no problem Nemuri. I'm always happy to help. So what do you need help with?"

"So last night while i was patrolling. I found an abandoned construction site that was light up. Investigating i found 4 unconscious bodies and a hole in the ground. Out the hole came a conduit. Age likely 17 or so. They ran and escaped me. So i went into the hole to find a lab a table with dried blood on it and depleted core crystals. From what i got from the suspect they came to investigate the place and found the lab by accident or chance. But they took something from down there and I'm not sure what. I'm leading an investigation to find where they could be. But honestly im stuck where-" "From what i found, with the way they went and with an educated guess they should be in or around Airin-chiku."

Nemuri tends to forget how fast her boss works. She would be happy to have a lead if the next words she heard weren't so distasteful.

"Also the camera footage showed this individual has smoke powers. I don't want to imply anything but i think you might need to check in with your husband. I know what you're thinking. No i don't think he did it but there might be something he knows. Especially as Burnin' reported chasing someone that turned into smoke."

Nemuri wanted to get angry there was no way her husband was involved. But she understood the logic. She definitely had to talk to Hank.
"I understand sir. Thank you for all the help. I'm gonna go talk to him and see if he knows anything."

"No issue Nemuri. Do ask again if you need anymore help." With that she closed the door and left. One thought peaking in her mind.

'Hank what did you do?'

_________________________________________________________

It got dark way faster than the girls realised. Honestly the thing that made them aware of it was a call from Momo's parents asking her where she was. After a quick explanation and an unspoken conversation about her being at a friend's house and not in the most dangerous place in Osaka the conversation went smoothly the parents seemed happy about her having friends. And were dissapointed about not being informed. After some discussion they let her stay the night. Cause she needed to finish a "project". After the call was closed both sighed and looked at eachother till they burst in laughter.

"Oh i didn't think lying would be this thrilling. I thought they would find out somehow and come take me away. But i don't understand why we are laughing." She kept laughing regardless and Izumi thought she had a beautiful laugh. She smirked as she teased the girl.

"You're laughing cause you got away with a bad thing. How does it feel to be alive you bad girl?" That made Momo laughed harder.

"I find it offensive that you think I've never done something bad before." The stare Izumi gave her made her stutter.
"I-i yeah ok I've never done something this bad. Stop looking at me like that." Izumi just kept staring. Barely keeping a straight face. The little pout Momo had on made her break.

"Yeah yeah I'm a good girl. Never broken any rules. So what?"
Izumi finally stopped laughing. And inhaled deeply a few times.

"There is nothing wrong with being a good girl. It's just so weird. Like you decided instead of doing the normal kid stuff like going to parties, drinking, smoking or anything of the sort. Your first act of rebellion is to go to the most dangerous district in Osaka to ask people how it is here. It's honestly hardcore in itself. Truly rebel activity that. But also you have to realise it was insanely dumb and would have ended badly had you not met me." The bad girl in question huffed as her face was becoming redder. She knew now that it was dumb. But she defended herself nonetheless.

"Well i had met you and it worked out. As my father says a dumb idea is only dumb if it doesn't work."

"Your dad really is so wise. I like him." Momo couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or not.

"Yeah father is wise,told me all the dumb things he used to do as a kid. How him trying to make a hidrogen bomb led to him meeting my mom."

Bad idea to drink tea in that moment. "I almost spat out my tea. I see your family is build on doing the weirdest rebel stuff. Ok first question why was your dad building a hidrogen bomb? Second how did that led to them meeting? Genuinely need to know."

"Well it was about 20 years ago. They were in highschool.."
_________________________________________________________

Izumi woke up with a grumble she was unsure when had she fallen asleep but damn it felt nice. She buried her face in whatever pillow she was using and almost fell asleep again. Hair hitting her face woke her right up. Looking up Momo was cuddling her. She instantly panicked and dashed off the couch and hit the wall.

She managed to cover her mouth and not scream thankfully. Checking the time. It was around 2 am currently, so she decided to go on a patrol to clear her head. Not before putting a blanket over the sleeping girl who almost dragged her back in her embrace. 'So Momo is a cuddler nice to know.'

She went to Ochako's room seeing the girl sleep at her desk salivating over her notebook. The conduit shook her head. Ochako had a tendency to work herself too hard. Its good that she is serious about school but truly she should take it easier. Izumi just put a pillow under her head and a blanket over her shoulders. Going to the closet in her room she found her vigilante outfit. Some dark baggy pants. A zipped up green hoodie. Both with padding on the elbows and knees. And plated on the shins and forearms for harder hits. It was professional work pretty expensive. Over the face she wore a face covering and a pair of aviator goggles. Slightly tinted so the eyes are less visible.

With the chains wrapped around her arms she admires herself in the mirror and out the window she went.

_________________________________________________________

Her new powers truly make moving around and patroling so much easier. Till now she stopped an idiot from mugging two drunk women that got lost. She got them a taxi which kept giving Izumi the side eye.
To be fair a hero would have probably left already so it's understandable.

And now she was watching a drug deal go down. And was about to interfere but someone did it for her. A figure came into the alley and stared down the 6 guys that were there.

"Would you look at that. So many villain scum selling drugs on our territory. Truly sickening. Well it's about time someone thought you boys a lesson." The thugs simply laughed. Which was a mistake. If someone can look at 6 people and say i like my odds they were either stupid or were about to kick you to your ancestors. Not the type of thing you bet on. And she was proven right as another figure came from above and slammed into the ground with a shockwave that even Izumi felt, sending the six of them flying. And then roots grew from the ground and tied them up.

There were three figures now interrogating the tied up men. But they seemed to not pay attention as one was reaching for a gun. In a second with a dash,Izumi bashed the guy with her hook and took the gun. Surprising the three figures. She addressed them.

"Rule number 1 kids. Always make sure your opponents are truly defenceless." Looking at them they truly looked like beginners. Wearing baggy clothes and facemasks. They seemed tense which was a point in their favour truthfully.

"Now onto serious matters. Who are you three? and what's this about your territory? I've never seen you around before."

The person in the middle looked at the other two and started talking with a imitation of a threatening tone.
"Were you watching us?"

"Well kinda i was watching these guys ready to deal with them till you 3 came along and did it for me. Im the Osaka Hunter and you three are in my territory. Now if you would so kindly introduce yourselves. That would be lovely." Without knowing her eyes lit up making the faceless expression just 2 toxic green eyes surrounded by smoke.

The three figures looked unsure at eachother. Like they weren't sure they could win a confrontation. Which was good cause Izumi was very unsure about it as well but they didn't need to know that.

"You three can stop pissing your pants. If i wanted to deal with you. One you wouldn't have seen me coming. And two i would have let this meathead do it for me. Now seriously presented yourselves im not gonna bite."

She could've let them panic themselves for a while longer but she just wanted to get on with her day.

"We a-are Deaf painted grass." A snicker interrupted their introduction.

"Sorry i just. Ha that's your name? It sounds like an indie rock band."

"Hey I - i thought the name was cool." The other two shook their heads so it probably wasn't their idea.

"Ok im sorry its a good name so let me guess one has powers connected to music,one to paint and one with nature? Did i get it right?" The smallest one among them shook their head and immediately shin checked the leader who fell does with a scream.

"I told you it was a bad name you dolt. Not only have you embarrassed us. They figured out our powers too. God damn moron." The figure kick the leader again. For good measure and turned to me.

"Are you a hero or something? Are you gonna arrest us?"

"Someone definitely has spunk i like you. No to both of those. Vigilante like you. Do me a favour get your dolt up. i wanna teach you kids something." Immediately i started picking the thugs' pockets. The other figure that was silent until now spoke up.

"Hey what in God's name are you doing?"

"What? These guys are going to prison. They won't need whatever's in their pockets."

"But you shouldn't rob them that's against the law."
That made Izumi roll her eyes. 'Great. It was one of those people.'

"Look hun I don't know about you but i need to feed myself and someone else back home. I don't get the benefits of parents taking care of me or winning any money from this otherwise. Plus let me remind you. You are already breaking the law by attacking these guys and playing the hero. So get off your horse. If you want to act high and mighty go right the fuck ahead but don't tell me what i can do." Izumi took a phone and called the non emergency phoneline.

"Yes hello i need help i just saw a group of men selling drugs near Abeno Q yes thank you bye." Call closed and phone pocketed. Shit she forgot to take a backpack again.

" So what are you kids doing this for? The experience? The thrill ? Or need to work out some issues?" She decided to ask cause seeing them standing there eyeing her awkwardly was annoying.

The leader coughs into their hand not looking sure they understood the question.

"Ok let's try another version. You three are very clearly teenages about 16 to 17 maybe younger not sure. So that tells me that you either want to become heroes and feel this would work well for training. Can't become heroes for some reason and are trying to compensate. Or you're angry at the world and want to fuck someone's dentures without much consequences,masking it as good will. So which is it?"
Their eyes widened which Izumi was unsure of why. Humans frankly confused her. she can grasp what goes through their heads and why but not all the time. Maybe she said some truth in all that.

"Would us answering change how you perceive or act towards us?" The shortest one asked directly.

"You're a smart one i like you, again. Keep asking questions it's good to not be complacent but we should leave the police shouldn't be far away." A siren in the distance confirmed it. "Do think on my question i will wait for an answer." With that the 4 started running.

_________________________________________________________

The pro hero midnight was tired. After a schoolday and a patrol she was dead on her feet but she needed to do one more thing. Her husband was awake at this hour so when she got home he greeted her.

"Hey Nem how was patrolling? Damn you look tired want a coffee ,a bath or a coma?" This man always knew to bring a smile on her face but she needed to be professional.

"While all of those would be lovely. I need to ask you something."

"And what would that be gorgeous?"

"I've seen some reports about a smoke conduit going around. And I've seen them myself actually." The man got very quiet and started sweating.

"There was a report of them robbing a bank transport. And running from a hero. " He tried to avoid eye contact. She really was onto him.
"So Hank tell me since when do you have another kid?" Wait a damn minute.
"Wha? What do you mean another kid?" Ok so she won't kill him for the robbery. But he really was confused.

"I've actually talked to the suspect in question and they didn't sound or look anything like you. So I'm asking you if you have another kid running around. Some girl in a green hoodie talking in a boyish voice swinging chains around."

Oh. OH. That clicked some things in place.
"Oh that kid, that explains just a lot of things. Though the idea of them swinging chains around also sounds terrifying. Too much like someone else i knew especially if they are like him."

"Ok now you've lost me. So do you have a bastard child or not?" That made Hank laugh.

"No they aren't my kid. I've met a kid that day. A conduit like me. Talked to me about her life and how she hasn't gotten her powers yet so I told her to hang in there and we highfived i felt something strange. it was unnerving. Anyway i think the kid might have copied my powers someway. It was familiar to another conduit i met in the states. Weirdly enough he had a chain too. Just to add to the pile of similarities." Along with being a vigilante but Hank chose not to voice that bit.

"That really is strange. Do you remember anything about the kid?"

"I know her name is Izumi. That's all she gave me. I've not seen anything physically descriptive about her. Wait how did you met her?"

"Oh i was checking an abandoned construction site. There were 4 guys beaten up and tied in smoke. From a hole in the ground in a smoke cloud, out she came. Talking half asleep about going home. She seemed adorable. Till she escaped me with a bunch of papers from an underground laboratory. I hope i can catch her to know what was down there."

"Did the guys say anything about what they were doing there?"

"They were honestly traumatized half talking about smoke, green eyes, a hook, a rabbit mask and docks." No fucking way. "Hold up hold up. A rabbit mask?" Suddenly Hank had some unpleasant memories about someone with a rabbit mask.

"Shit i hope it isn't her." That made Nem panic.
"Who are you talking about?"

A tired sigh escaped the conduit just thinking about.....everything that had happened.
"Back in the states when i was detained by the D.U.P. there was talk about a paper conduit, they trained her as an assassin,she is a notorious and vicious killer. Im scared about the possibility of her being currently here. Cause she is very smart but also unpredictable." Especially with Augustine's imprisonment.

"Do you know anything about her? Any details at all?" Her tone was hurried but still professional.

"I don't know much,just that she has paper powers, a rabbit mask and is tied to several brutal murders." He knew her face and name,hell they were friends at one point but he couldn't risk Nem going after her,it was too dangerous.

"Ok. thank you for the help Hank i think i really need sleep. Probably a coma."

"So do you want a tea and bath with the coma?" A chuckle escaped Nemuri's lips.
"Yeah that sounds lovely darling."

Chapter Text

"So huff what are your names?" Looking at them Izumi saw them basically almost dead after a bit of running and climbing. 'Jeez they need better stamina if they wanna last around here.'
"You guys are out of shape. Really gotta do some cardio." The three glared at her making her crack up.

The one that had short purple hair(it was hard to tell back in the alley with no lights.) got her attention
"I have a question for you. You asked us why we are doing this. I want you to answer the question first." That was fair.

"Good question. Why I'm doing this ? Well to keep the question to what i asked. I'm not gonna become a hero in any capacity,maybe just training for training's sake but that's way too dedicated for my taste. Honestly besides that i like fighting people no arguing that. If it helps some people that the streets are a bit more clean that's just a bonus honestly. God i sound jaded. Help me here you three should have the bright twinkle in your eyes. What are your reasons?"

"All three of us wanted to be heroes but we can't. This world is unfair for so many and we want to change it.
We are working to improve the lives of those like us to show the world that conduits can good. And to show that this hero system isn't as morally just as it claims to be."

A laugh from Izumi truly ruined the moment. Like genuinely it made the 3 die a bit inside.
"Can you stop laughing at our dreams and aspirations for like 5 minutes? Seriously."

"Wait sorry. I'm not laughing at your dreams. I swear it's just. Ah gods . This is exactly what i needed." Ok hurt turned to confusion.

"What are you on about?" Perfectly summed up their thoughts in one question.

"I..look what's wrong with me doesn't matter. Simple and to the point you three won't last on these streets. You're inexperienced, nervous and your physical attributes are honestly deplorably shit. You nearly died to one guy with a gun back there." They really wanted to kick her ass cause she really loved tearing into them since they met. "But i look into those cute, innocent,eyes of yours. I see heart,drive, determination and above all else i see potential. So I'm willing to give you guys the chance. To lift yourselves up from these streets and achieve your dreams. Are you willing to fight for your dreams?" She offered a hand towards them.

Their faces told a lot. Fear, doubt,anger, even hope. They weren't sure how to take all that. So Izumi decided to lit their asses on fire as a stimulant.

"How about this i laughed at you 3 a lot today. So im giving you a chance to take a bit of revenge. Here and now. Your first assignment is simple knock me off my feet. No powers, no weapons just hands." With that she let her chains drop to the ground with a clang. Arms outstretched really establishing dominance. Shorty seemed to finally had enough. She changed in despite being at about Izumi's shoulder. This girl? Really had spunk in her.

"I'm gonna enjoy kicking you till you fall. You insufferable. Annoying. Prick." Three punches all misses. Izumi loved dancing circles around people she fights.

"Alright shorty. Really like your fire. So what's your name and pronouns? If you don't mind. Kinda growing tired of not getting an answer to that." That stopped the purple haired girl from advancing. After thinking for a moment she answered.

"Can't give my real name obviously. So just call me DD. As for pronouns she/her fits me just fine. Now back to kicking your ass." She threw a leg kick as she finished talking. Izumi dodged. And went to give her own introduction.

"DD is a really cute name. My name is Izumi she/her. You truly are smart to not give your name away. But sadly your footwork needs some help." With that exclamation she swiped the girl off her feet. She would have continued talking but she threw herself to the right. The leader tried to tackle her with her back turned. A lean muscular body a bit taller then Izumi with yellow hair with all sorts of colourful tips greeted her.

"Alright if we are doing introduction I'm Picasso he/they pronouns." Picasso tried different punches and kicks with an honestly mediocre form. More like someone that watched people fight rather than actually train for it.

"You really need proper training. Your thumb shouldn't go in your fist. You can break it that way. Oh almost grazed me.Twist your hip when you kick. And seriously stop overreaching, you can trip." With that she reached for the punch he threw,pulled it to make him lose balance and slammed him down with a hiptoss.

Surprised the other one hasn't joined in, Izumi turned confused. The other figure with thigh long hair which looked honestly like a pain to maintain was standing there staring at her. "Um are you gonna join and introduce yourself or are you just gonna stare?"

With a sigh the figure put a hand on their chest and introduced themselves. "You can call me Kayano she/they. I would fight you but if it's no powers, I can't get involved. I don't fight like these two. I let my children fight for me."

This person was certainly excentric. Izumi liked it.
"So calling yourself after the goddess of vegetation. That's quite a statement. Regardless you need to understand. You won't always have your powers to help you. So it's way better to learn now rather then later. So don't be scared,come at me. I will be gentle. I promise." Izumi tried a middle ground between gentle and stern. While she didn't want to command them to fight her. Pushing someone into learning is important. It may not be something they want. And honestly may they never need it but it's better to be prepared.

That seemed to at least make Kayano come closer.
"I understand i need it. But hurting someone with my own body feels wrong. With my children i can restrain them with as little pain as possible." While her conviction was admirable, Izumi was tempted to say plants are not particularly hard to dispose of. So yes the girl needed to learn come combat.

"Look I'm not forcing you to fight me. However if for some reason you can't use your power wouldn't you like to be able to protect yourself or your teammates without it?" Consideration danced across the girl's eyes, before she nodded and went into a stance that looked taken from a fighting game.

"For a stance is better like this. If your right hand is dominant put the left leg ahead and your right leg a bit more right if not vice versa. It's better so you can use your stronger arm and leg with more windup, and the stance itself is to not let yourself be tripped." Looking at the other two, they seemed to follow her instructions as well.

"Alright now Kayano you're with me. Picasso and DD with eachother. One punches, the other blocks." And they kept training. Learning at least the basics.

_________________________________________________________

"Alright that's enough training for today. It's currently, i think 3 am. You three better get home."

Picasso raised their hand like in school and asked. "Wait why did you guess? Don't you have a phone? Here let me check it's 2:47."

"I don't use my phone when i work for a few reasons. 1 so I don't lose or damage it. Cause I can't complain to my parents to get me another one. 2 so I don't get distracted. Mostly the second one. But back on point, you three go home don't make me repeat myself." With that she turned to dash away till Picasso grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Eh sorry. I wanted to ask. How can we meet again?"
That question had taken Izumi by surprise. They wanted to spend more time with her?

"You want to see me again?" Why was she blushing under her mask? This is so weird.

"Yeah! You seem very cool and you know a lot. You saw we are new at this and helped us. Maybe we can work together?" Ah so they wanted more of her knowledge not to spend time with her. That's understandable.

"Yeah sure sounds good. I wouldn't mind kicking your asses into shape more." That made Picasso jump with joy the other two were more reserved but Izumi could read their eyes.

"Hell yeah. Deaf painted grass gets a new member hit me up top." The three highfived and Picasso put his hand forward for Izumi as well. Something was wrong though. Izumi mind was so focused on that hand for some reason. Something called to her to touch it. She didn't like this. Something would happen if she touched it. She could feel it.

She went for it and Picasso pulled his hand back last second. "Ha too slow. Sorry i couldn't resist."

"Hahahah yeah. You sure got me. But let's make it clear. I'm not part of your team till you get a better name for it. And until you can prove you're here to stay. I need to see you have the dedication and drive for it. You three have a lot of potential so I'm gonna invest in your future. If you need any equipment or anything of the sort i know a guy who can get anything you need on the cheap." A piece of paper was put in her hand while she was talking.

"What's this?"

"Our phone numbers so we can discuss more."

"You're willing to give your info to someone you just met?"

Picasso shrugged utterly unbothered by the question or it's implications. "My gut tells me i can trust you. Plus what can you do with it besides call me?" Ok this guy was an idiot but seemed genuine at least.

"Thanks. I'm gonna call you later maybe plan a meeting and discuss this more. Just make sure not to say anything incriminating on the call you don't know who is listening. But thanks for trusting me kid. I appreciate that. See you all later." With that she dashed onto the next roof and started running.

"Soooo.." Picasso turned towards his teammates before getting shin checked again. He immediately falls down with a scream.

"You idiot. Why do you do the things you do?"
DD looked pissed even with her face covered.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I thought she was cool as hell too. But why did you give her our contact info? Why not give our faces and names too while at it?" She almost kicked him again but Kayano grabbed her. While the plant conduit didn't talk a lot the other two tended to take her words way more serious. She was like the mother of the group in a way.

"While I'm not very happy with Picasso's choice myself. I am willing to risk it too. I can't exactly explain it but Izumi seemed genuine in anything she said and done since we met her. Should we be cautious? Certainly. But sometimes it's better to have a bit of hope and trust in our fellow humans. Plus she absolutely took us to school with this training. What could she gain from playing the long game when it's clear she could've dealt with us the moment we interacted with.... i'm sorry to say but barely any effort."

DD sighed tiredly. They were right. She needs to stop thinking herself into an early grave. "Ah fine. We will trust her. NOT fully. Can't give our identities away till we are 100 percent sure. I understand being trusting but I'm not willing to risk so much on a whim. Did i make myself clear?" The other two nodded and DD grabbed Picasso and picked him up.

"Alright you heard our teacher, time to go home. Wait what's that?"

_________________________________________________________

Izumi dashed from roof to roof till a whip grabbed her leg as she landed. Her body instinctively rolled and evaded a kick. A sultry voice started speaking.

"Well well well,look who i found." Izumi's mind immediately realised who it was. So she dashed across the roof a safe distance away to see Midnight looking at her.

"Well hello Midnight. Are you still searching for me? You need to let go honey, i really dont like clingy exes." Midnight faked a hurt expression putting her hand on her chest.

"Oh that was mean. I truly thought we had something special. I'm not willing to let go yet. So how about you tell me what are you doing?" Izumi sighed.

"How do you always find me when I'm trying to go home? Have the decency to come when I'm less tired nemesis." 'I need to make her follow me or she might find the newbies.'

"Honestly I don't know how i find you like this. But I don't have a problem getting you to stay." Izumi dashed back evading the gas cloud that erupted from the hero. Barely grabbing the ledge of the other building she got up to see the gas coming closer so she dashed again. She only just realised how tired she was. Her tank was running low. She heard conduits need to refuel at some point but it hasn't happened in 2 days so she forgot about it. Looking around showed no smoke anywhere near her. Too late she realised the cloud was on her and she inhaled a bit in her panic. The effects were immediate. Her vision blurred. Her feet started to wobble. She needed help. One more dash onto an air vent sent her upwards onto the next building. But the conduit realised she couldn't stand as she landed.

"Well looks like i caught you liittttle rabbbit." Dispite her struggles she passed out.

_________________________________________________________

"That's it. One vigilante caught. Now let's see who she is." Something landing near her took her attention before she realised a sound filled her ears and blew away her gas. It was so powerful it made her head buzz and her bones rattle. Suddenly something hit her on the legs and stuck them to the ground. Three shadows appeared and snatched the vigilantes body before running away. She couldn't think,move and barely breathe. Thankfully the music stopped and she fell down.

The hero was disoriented, her bones ached and she was stuck. She pressed the emergency button as she passed out.

_________________________________________________________

"Damn she is heavier then she looks." Thankfully Picasso saw the altercation happen the trio were carrying the vigilante along with the cases she took. The greenette stirred.

"Wha's hafning?" Damn she was out of it.

"Sorry Izumi we saved you and aren't sure what to do."

"Ah jush tak meh ome." They were unsure. She likely wouldn't have proposed that if fully conscious.

"What are we thinking guys? I know she wouldn't want us to take her home. But what do we do? Take her to our base?"

The base in question was DD's house. A pretty large house that her parents weren't visiting a lot since they were on a tour with their band.

"Fuck. Fine let's bring her to my house not sure what to do otherwise. Hope she will wake up before we get there. Keep going we aren't sure Midnight hasn't called reinforcements."

"If she did we are in trouble."

"Guys i have an idea." Kayano suddenly piped up.

"What is it?" Both her teammates asked.

"What if get a taxi home." Both their minds did a record scratch at that. Like oh yeah three masked people taking a cab with one half conscious hero dressed individual and two briefcases. Sure it won't raise any suspicions at all. "Listen i get that it would probably look suspicious as shit. However if we take our masks off and hers we can pass it off as we are just visiting and got lost."

It wasn't the most solid of plans but taking Izumi another district away on foot with heroes probably searching the area would be way too risky.

Picasso sighed he didn't want to break Izumi's trust but it needed to be done. "Fine we are doing this then. We should have the decency to not look at her face. Or you know what lets keep her from view and not take it off unless told otherwise."

They called a taxi and got off the building they were on. They took Izumi's chains off and Kayano held them beneath the briefcases in her arms hoping they won't make too much noise. Picasso held Izumi in a piggyback carry. DD had to distract the driver so they didn't see anything suspicious.

The taxi stopped and they got in. Piccaso put Izumi facing the window Kayano threw the luggage in before the driver could suggest doing it for her and DD held him occupied by asking his taste in music. The driver was a man in his 50 with tanned skin and a clear fox mutation having slicked back white hair with ears on top, whiskers on his face and orange eyes. His taste was mostly jazz and other soft music. He asked what were teenagers doing out at this hour. They froze in realisation. The group forgot to discuss what they were doing out here.

After a minute of silence the man smirked.
"So i caught kids doing something they shouldn't. Very peculiar situation here. Do your parents know you're out here at this hour?"

"Do i have to pay you to keep you quiet about this?" DD went straight to the point cause she didn't want to waste time doing the usual please don't say anything shpeel.

The fox man eyed her for a second before chuckling.
"Ha no. You won't even have to pay for this ride for that matter." With that he stopped the car the three were so tense they didn't realise they got here.

"So what? You let us go just like that?" The other two got out. And DD followed still eyeing the man.

The driver shook his head." Let's say i did you kids a favour. I'm having some problems with some unpleasant individuals harassing my cabs in the Airin-chiku. I need someone to take care of it."

"How are 3 teenagers supposed to help with that? Isn't the police there for a reason." The driver snickered. He looked eyes with the girl.

"You three don't need to do anything about them. Just convince your passed out friend to do it. They would know how to deal with troublesome people. Just tell them Sal said hi. Alright good night kids and stay out of trouble." With that the door of the cab closed in DD's face and Sal drove away. The girl was kinda scared of what to think. She decided it wasn't worth worrying about it now but reminded herself to ask Izumi who Sal was.

Going through her garden she saw that her friends got inside. Probably with her spare key. Her house was basically a minimansion. It had anything you would want a great view a pretty big garden. A large pool. Truthfully it was probably most people's dream house. To Kyouka Jirou it wasn't. While she liked it the space was so empty so lifeless it was a pain. It reminded her of her always gone parents who loved her but they couldn't visit her much as their careers grew. Her friends had been her family for as long as they met.

Conduits like her, they needed a place away from their own lives so they pretty much moved here.
Her parents didn't really mind. As long as nothing was stolen, the place got cleaned and so on. They seemed really happy that their daughter had friends. Her parents being rich, her being a conduit and with how dangerous her power actually was. It wasn't a wonder most people didn't want her as a friend. Some tried to get money from her but it proved ineffective fairly quickly cause she wasn't above saying no and tell them to get lost.

Getting inside she saw Izumi on the couch with the two suitcases and chains on the other side. Her friends were at the table in the kitchen. Probably ready to discuss what they were gonna do about this.

"So what are you two thinking about?" Sitting down she looked at the other two ,who were having their normal reactions. Denki was panicking, playing with an anti stress toy,while Ibara looked unbothered. She honestly wasn't the same after what happened. Before she would worry constantly, now? Almost nothing can bother her. Like somehow she knows everything will work out.

"I'm making some tea hoping Denki will calm down somewhat. Honestly Denki it's fine, the heroes won't find out." The blonde was actually shaking. His change from vigilante to him normally was always jarring.

"B-but what if someone followed us? What if the driver smelled us and called the police? He knows where we live. Should we kill him? I mean murder is the hardest to solve when the killer and victim don't know eachother. Notheycouldtrackitbacktous. Wouldbribework?Ormaybethreats?Helookedoldmayneicanmakeitlooklikeanincident." "Denki you're spiraling, control your breathing. 1 2 3 in 4 5 6 out. 1 2 3 in 4 5 6 out. Yeah like that again,1 2 3 in,4 5 6 out."

Again how he goes from a fearless and kinda reckless leader to a panicking mess after is so jarring.

"Alright truly Denki calm down the taxi driver won't spill anything. The heroes aren't following us. All is gonna be ok."

"Ok. Ok. Sorry I'm overthinking again. Usually when we do something like this it's away from home. This is the first time we actually brought something vigilante related here. So i have a right to panic somewhat yeah?"

"No-one said you don't have a reason to panic. It's understandable all this being new territory and what not but it won't help us if our leader spirals while still dealing with the problem. You get us?"

Denki took a second before taking a deep breath and finally stopped shaking somewhat.
"Fine I won't spiral. But what should we do? Just wait for this clearly somewhat known vigilante to wake up? She might take it the wrong way. And I don't want a pissed off vigilante to fight us here."

Kyoka wanted to argue that it was ridiculous that Izumi would take this the wrong way. But Ibara put a hand on her shoulder basically taking over the conversation without a word.

The greenette sleed a cup of tea towards Denki and sat down. "Look Denki a fact about this whole situation should be immediately clear. We saved her back there. She might break something in a panic when she wakes up but otherwise i say it's not likely she will do anything else of the sort. So please just calm down and trust us." Ah a mother in her natural role ,truly beautiful to see.

"Gods above can you three shut up? I'm trying to sleep." Speaking of someone waking up. Izumi jumped from her spot looking around probably for her weapons. "Shit ok. So I'm not arrested that's a plus." They realized they forgot to cover back their faces. So much for secret identities.

Izumi started massaging her neck. "Gods. Was this your first time carrying someone unconscious? My neck is killing me and also-." She kinda froze looking at their uncovered faces. "You three forgot to cover your faces right?" Her nonchalance kinda made them red in the face. "You three really are newbies. But enough of that. I have to thank you for the save. I guess im really adopting more siblings again." They heard the last part even if it was muttered. "Alright where are we? What time it is? And what happened after i passed out stat." Her commanding voice kicked them into gear.

"We are currently at our house in Tennoji ward. Its currently 5 am and besides saving you amd getting a taxi here nothing happened." Kyoka actually turned towards Izumi.

"Um actually Sal said hi and that he needs help with some unpleasant individuals harassing his cabs. Do you know who that is?" Izumi looked pissed.

"Of course that foxy bastard would find me like this and then ask a favour. I guess that's what im doing tomorrow. Ugh fine at least i can teach some idiots manners."

"Wait wait wait hold on. Who is Sal and why does he know you. He couldn't have seen your face. Also Kyo what did you talk with him while we weren't there?" Denki looked kinda betrayed. Her first instinct was to apologize but Izumi cut her off.

"Sal as everyone calls him. Is ..... in a way you can call him a mafia boss but not really. Usually his cabs are mostly active at night . Most of his business is trading goods especially favours. Basically put you ask for something and you do something for him back. Generally it's proportional. He isn't a bad guy if you're wondering. Sal is willing to help anyone as long as you pay him back. But be careful, if you don't pay him back, he will come to collect. He recognised me cause I've done things for him before. Also Sal is the guy i talked about before. You can ask him for gear and he will bring top notch stuff."

"So he is like a dealer.?" Denki asked cautiously.

"Yeah basically." Her eyes fixated on the briefcases. "Alright let's see what's in this briefcase i was wondering since we took it." She went open it but she felt something inside. The same feeling as before. "Blast cores? No way." She opened it slightly and closed it when she saw the light coming from inside.

"Shit ok. Do any of you know what blast cores are?" The three looked at her utterly clueless. Her head fell and she started to tap a beat on the case with her fingers trying to find a way to explain it. Ibara interrupted her thoughts.
"Sorry i understand it's probably something bad but can you not swear. I don't really like foul language." If Izumi had a yen for every time someone asked her not to swear and were nice enough for her not to refuse, she would have 2 yen which isn't a lot. But it's weird that it happened twice in one week.

"Fine. Whatever,moving the f-- on. Basically a blast core is a crystal that's filled with Ray Field Radiation. Which helps conduits evolve their powers faster then normal when they absorb the energy. Do you guys know what this means?" Denki raised his hand like at school again. She pointed at him to speak.

"This means it can help us get better with our powers?"

"No! Well Yes! That too but that's good news the bad news means someone is planning something and I don't like it. Like think for a second, as far as my own research goes I'm no expert. But I'm very aware that conduits need these to get better very quickly and someone had just bought a whole suitcase full of it. Im gonna have to talk to a few contacts and see who was trying to get these and where are they from. Did you guys get anything from the guys you captured before i arrived?"

"One guy said something about the Shie Hassaikai but I'm not sure if they were the ones buying or selling."

"Hassaikai? what the fuck are they doing on my terf?" Her tone got vile and outright enraged. But she seemed to calm quickly.

"I see i have to pay them a visit. Gods. So much to do,so little time. Alright kids, question. Do you all want to keep sticking to me? Like actually make this team official and s-stuff?" She didn't feel good letting these kids on their own with hassaikai going around.

The trio looked at eachother in a silent conversation. A nod, two nods and three. She already got her answer.

"Good. Now then, pick your prizes. You will need the strength" With that she opened the case letting the light bathe the room. The conduits looked mesmerized. Frozen like deers in the headlights then they moved closer like moths to a flame. A touch and the whole house light up for a few seconds. Blinding anyone that had it in their sights.

Chapter Text

On the empty dark streets of Musutafu there was but a soul around. A man was running, knocking into things as he did, gasping for every breath. Turning a corner and looking behind him landed him a face full of bricks."Shit! Dead end! God dammit. It can't end this way." Back against the wall he knew She was still there. Still on his tail. At least this way she couldn't attack but head on. Tools popped out of his body. All coated in his poisoned blood.

"I am Toxic Chainsaw. I don't care why are you following me but i will show you bitch." His eyes moved side to side inspecting every corner till all he saw was red. He flinched back his head hitting the wall. A hand grabbed his mouth sapping him off all his strength. It was a woman in a black hooded dress standing over him. Her eyes were a brilliant blood red in contrast to pale her skin and snow white hair.
She spoke in a gentle tone. Almost making him relax.

"Shhh. Dokutan Koboyashi
Time has come
To pay the price.
To pay the sum
Of your crimes."
Doku couldn't feel his body. Cold numbness clawed at his limbs. His vision was filled with those orbs of red.
Sleepiness was sipping into him.
"Don't struggle in vain
It would be a shame.
Just close your eyes
And stop your cries."
He didn't feel like fighting anymore. Memories swimmed in his mind. All his successes,mistakes,dreams and regrets.
"Death has come,
To claim your soul.
You killed and maimed,
For money gained.
With all your, mistakes and sins
Accept death's sweet kiss."
Her lips touched his but he couldn't feel it. His heart was too weak to beat. And her lips sucked the last breath out of his lungs.

She got up and looked at him. His body once muscular and intimidating was but a husk. Pale ashen skin stretched over visible bones like they had no muscles to begin with. The woman bowed and took her leave. Now no soul was on that street.

_________________________________________________________

Sitting alone in her bed Ochako was meditating, trying to grasp her powers. She hates it, she hates them maybe even herself. If she wasn't born maybe her parents would have lived happily and fulfilled. But she had to live as their murderer, she couldn't just end it or everything Izumi did for her would be for nothing. Since they met Izumi treated her better than she deserved. Izumi was an angel. So for Izumi, for her sister she will have a good education go to UA use and learn to control this curse she was born with. She can feel how something in the air changed and everything around her starts to float. And slowly they start to gravitate around her like she was the sun.

She loves space so for her to imagine herself as being a planet was simple as long as she concentrates nothing will ruin it. Her door screeching suddenly made her tense and everything was shot back into place hitting the walls and the ground. Rather loudly. Her lamp should have fragmented but she learned Izumi bought her an indestructible one. Truthfully her sister was too good for this world.

Looking at her door. She locked eyes with a terrified Yaoyorozu. "What do you want?" She knew her sister liked this girl for some reason. And she wasn't going to argue on who her sister brings home. But she wasn't going to be nice till she can say this girl is good for Izumi.

"S-sorry i want-ed to ask where is Izumi?" Truthfully Momo was terrified especially after what Izumi said about the girl's power. She wasn't kidding. Seeing everything in the room float was mesmerising.

Ochako's eyes widened. This girl didn't know about Izumi's other job. 'This is bad. Can't tell her the truth.'
Truthfully Ochako isn't good at lying. Never was but actually now that she thought about it she doesn't need to lie just not say the whole truth.

"Izumi has a night job. It's needed cause she doesn't let me work while going to highschool."

"Oh i hope i didn't make it worse on her. We spoke a lot today." After Izumi helped her all day. She really didn't want to make greenette's life harder.

"You're kidding? Izumi looked happier today than I've seen her all year. She might be more grumpy tomorrow but don't think she would regret spending time with you."

Momo was happy to hear that. It calmed her guilt a bit.

"Do you want to ask something else? I can see it on your face." Only now realising she was biting her lip. She knew Izumi told her not to. But her curiosity was too much.

"I'm sorry for asking this. But what is your power? Some sort of telekinesis or something else?"

"Hm." For a second Momo thought she wouldn't get an answer. But the brunette sighed and without warning Momo was pulled closer. With a bigger force than she felt outside the room she was basically dragged in front of Uraraka.

"My power is gravity. I can pull things either separate or in a radius towards and around me." Momo was writing in a notebook that Ochako hasn't seen the girl carry.

"That sounds very powerful. Can you make the gravity affect in a certain direction? Or just relative to you?"
The conduit thought for a minute.

"I think it's mostly just relative to me."
More writing.

"That's still intriguing. Can you affect the range?"
Momo felt a slight pull.

"Yeah."

"Conduits from what i learned. Need to absorb what they use to recharge. What do you absorb?"

"From what i see I'm fairly sure i absorb the gravity when making things gravitate around me. Also you asked my power but im curious what is your quirk?" Ochako never cared about what powers people have. But she kinda wanted to stop talking about her powers for a while.

"Oh my quirk allows me to turn my fat cells into anything that's not alive that i know the molecular structure of."

"That sounds like a pain to have to use. Chemistry is so not my strong suit."

"Oh yeah it can be very complicated that's why I'm working to have a book included with my hero costume. In case i forget something and need to look it up." Momo was happy she could finally talk about hero things with someone her age.

"Sorry for asking but wouldn't a book be like very impractical? "

"What do you mean?"

"Well if you need a lot of information crammed into a book. It would either be very big and cumbersome or very crammed and hard to read right? Any book with a decent amount of info would be a pain to use along with carrying it. And now that i think about it reading a book in the middle of a very stressful situation wouldn't be easy at all. Like heroics isn't the lights and glamour most people see. It would be very stressful with life and death situations all over the place. You get me?" That made Momo stop and think. And yeah she could see what the conduit was saying.

"So what do you suggest i should do?"

"Hm Oh how about uh a computer on your wrist? You can upload a large database of things. And just search what you need. You can also add a lot of extra stuff,maybe a GPS tracker to search for lost civilians or to sent an SOS if needed. Maybe more but it might be too complicated to be useful. Cause the more parts something has the more things can go wrong right?"

"Oh that certainly sounds useful. I'm gonna have to keep that in mind. But enough about my outfit. Im curious what sort of hero do you want to be?"

"I want to be a rescue hero. These powers could be very useful for that i reckoned. And you?"

"Oh definitely. Im thinking more of a rescue and investigation hero."

They discussed any topic that came to mind till the morning sun hit them in the face.
"Drat i have to go to school."

"Oh my apologies i didn't realise how much of your time I've waisted. Here let me call my driver and... Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

"My parents can't know I've been here. So my driver can't know either. Its 7:23 I'm gonna be late for school this can't happen. I've never been late." Her breathing was getting quicker and quicker.

'Shit she's having a panic attack.'
"Momo calm down. Breathe for me,in,hold and out. Yes that's it. In hold and out. Good. Now get your things ready I'm gonna get you home."

"How? It's an hour away. I'm gonna be late either way." Ochako grew a smirk full of confidence.

"We are gonna fly." With that she went out the room.
Momo followed her trying to understand what she was planning. She suddenly got hit in the chest, kinda kicking the air out her lungs. Looking down she saw a head full of green curls.

"Oh Izumi Hi. Are you ok? I hope you aren't too tired."
Izumi honestly didn't want to move but she heard something about being late and flying. So she pushed herself off.

"I'm fine. What was that about flying and school?"

"I don't know me and Uraraka were talking and we realized we were late and then she starts talking about flying." Looking in the living room Ochako was getting ready. She turned to the two.

"Yaoyorozu come on what are you waiting for? Oh Izumi perfect i needed your help with this. Get your chain we need it."

"Ochako seriously what are you planning?"

"We need to get Momo home fast. So i decided im gonna use my powers for that. I will make us float and you will throw us towards our destination."

"How is that gonna work? How would you even know where you're going?"

"I must agree with Izumi. This plan is very reckless and half baked. What if we hit something or you don't measure it right. Or worse a hero sees us. We could get into a lot of trouble."

Ochako looked at the girl for a long second before she asked." Do you want to be late? Cause I don't. so please trust me."

"But we just thought of the idea a few hours ago. We aren't sure if it will work. What if you can't do it?"

"I have a better idea. Look Ochako i trust you a lot. So we will try your idea. Just w-" a ping from her phone interrupted her." Oh it's here already. That was fast."

"What's here already?"

"I asked a friend for a special taxi to pick you both up. Cause Ochako i love you but I'm not letting you get either hurt or arrested when there is a safer option. So we will have to try your idea another time. Maybe after you go to that fancy hero school. That sound good?" The brunette got red in the face pouting. Izumi knows she spoils her sister a bit cause she rarely says no.

"Alright you two get ready and go down, the taxi is waiting. And no money bags, no paying would be needed i called in a favour just go. You have 5 minutes and still need to get to school. Im gonna go catch some sleep. By bye." With that the greenette left the room swaying slightly. Leaving the two girls confused and pouty respectively. The two stayed there a while till a car horn made them move into gear. Izumi watched them leave,Ochako still pouting. Which made the girl chuckle as she fell into bed utterly exhausted.

_________________________________________________________

Rojiya Yonenaga was honestly annoyed. Someone intercepted a very important delivery of his. His boys got imprisoned and the buyer is throwing a hissy fit. Like this didn't affect Abegawa Tenchu Kai at all. So here he was sitting in a chair waiting for the client to show up, cause a phone call is not enough for some people. Now that he thought about it this smelled like new vigilantes around. Considering his contacts said no new heroes were on the scene.

A door opened and in stepped the client. A short guy wearing a white coat and a gold watch on his hand. He had a head of black hair with his left side covered by a metallic helmet that also covered his mouth. Besides him a guy with a heavy bear mutation and a girl with white hair and eyes in a red buttoned uniform. Entered behind him.

"Morning Cu-ra-tor? That's your name right? Anyway sit down and let's discuss what happened." Helmet boy stared at him for a long minute before sitting down without a word.

"Where is my briefcase?" The man asked simply and the boss already felt a headache coming.

"I told you already. Someone stole it and arrested everyone at the deal. I can get the men out of prison. But until then i don't know who took the crystals."

"And how long is that gonna take?" Gods that monotone voice was grating on the ears. The bear glaring and the girl looking lost in space didn't help either. Bunch of weirdos.

"I don't know a week? Two maybe. I can try to have a contact see who attacked our men in a day or two. But that's gonna cost."

"Im gonna pay. I already lost the money for the package what's a few more? Just make sure to find and punish those irritating wretched dogs that touched my property." That calm controlled façade broke for a second. Enough to make the mob boss regret making that deal. 'Unstable motherfucker.'

A phone ringing stopped Rojiya from commenting. Curator apologied and answered. The Yakuza couldn't hear what was said on the other side.
"Yes? No I'm here now. What? Those small annoying little insects." His hand grew and crushed the phone in his hand.

"Apologies Rojiya I'm starting to think someone is targeting me specifically. I have to go deal with some pests. Please do still try to find who took the package in case this is a coincidence. I will send the money later with a currier. Have a good day. Zookeeper, Bearhead let's go, we have some problems to resolve."
Off the trio went without another word. Rojiya stared at the broken phone on the ground for a few moments. With a sigh he got up.

"Why did i get involved in this?"

_________________________________________________________

Curator was a logical man he would love to say but everyone working for him also knows that he tends to lose his temper. Like now. As Bearhead was watching him lose his shit at the fact someone came to one of their hideouts beat everyone there into unconsciousness and ransacked the place. They actually stole even the carpets. So Curator's freak-out was very understandable.

"I'm going to find the person responsible and make death seem like heaven to them. And I already have a suspect. Bearhead? How has your search been going?"

"I still haven't found any sort of hideout or warehouse of Sal but I'm getting closer, I can smell it."

"Good. Tell the others to double their efforts. If need be tell them Sal stole the package I'm sure that will give them more motivation."

"Or it will make them go on a rampage." Bearhead knew those three won't like the fact someone stole their rewards.

"I don't care.I'm going to make Sal pay one way or another. Burn this city to the ground for all i care."
With that the boss stomped away. Bearhead looked to his right and realized Curator forgot to take Zookeeper with him. He couldn't grasp how he can stand looking at her. She was more of a doll than a real person. It was freaky looking at her dull expressionless face. "Follow." He ordered and turned to leave. Not seeing her eyes gain some emotion for a second before going dull again as the command sank in.

_________________________________________________________

Again the annoying alarm filled her ears. Izumi nearly broke her clock in frustration. She really needed to sleep better. 'Eh whatever I'm always tired anyway.'

With that she slowly went to get some food. She cursed that there wasn't any more milk in the fridge. Annoyed she drank her coffee without. Ate some rice omelette and went out the window.

Immediately she realised something was happening on the street. Something was smoking. Peering over the ledge she saw a large man made out of lava and stone melting a car with one hand and holding some guy with a walrus mutation by the neck.

"Now i want you to tell me. WHERE? IS? SAL? if you don't answer i will melt your face off." Izumi dashed back to her apartment, she needed her suit.

"I i i don't k-know. He never tells anyone where he is. AHH i swear." Vulcan was ready to melt his face off but a voice interrupts him.

"Easy big guy. I know you want your cores but killing this fool won't bring us closer to them." A woman spoke appearing next to them in a cloud of ash. She was a tall woman with a very voluptuous figure.
She had long, wavy, white hair, mostly tied into a ponytail, with two locks framing her face and bangs that obscures most of the right eye. Her outfit was light purple panties, a black low cut sports bra, along with arm pads, a thin face mask, a large metal respirator, black ankle boots, and a utility belt with garters.

"Shut up Ash. Maybe you can let this go but I can't. Sal stole from me so i want him to pay for it. Killing this idiot won't hurt him much but killing enough of them should spell a very nice message." The woman scoffed. Vulcan was always so impulsive. While he has a point they should get everything from the driver before burning him alive. Any comment she had on her tongue died when something hit her in the head hard.

Odokawa thought he was done for. He hoped his family will be fine without him. Till suddenly he was dropped. Looking up a girl made of smoke was holding the volcanic man by the neck with a chain. She adressed him. "Yo sorry for the late arrival but do me a favour and fucking RUN." Odokawa didn't need to be told twice. As he full on sprinted away from danger.

"Civilian rescued now what to do with you?" She felt the redhead grab her hand and something slithered through her palm. She froze as lava shot out the guy's back launching her away. He turned to look at her. With literal steam coming out of his ears. But he calmed when he saw she was covered in lava.

"That's delt with at least. Ash why didn't you watch my b-?" Turning around he realised Ash was knocked out.

"Sorry I didn't want any interruption so your friend can take a nice long nap-" He froze and looked at her in shock. The puddle of melting rock rosed up and formed into a small humanoid figure. It was a woman but with hardened obsidian and stone covering her hands feet and body in a sort of liotard,boots and gauntlets with cracks all throughout. Her face was covered by a mask that had a crack over the mouth that looked like an evil grin with two greenish blue fires for eyes and hair made of redish blue lava flowing in culs down her back. She was pointing at him. "-until I'm finished with you."

"You're lava resistant? My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is even more ruined. Why are you here? What you think you're some sort of hero? Well after i deal with you I'm going after that fat fuck and melt him into a puddle. Cause this is what happens when you FUCK WITH VULCAN." With a punch into the ground the whole street started melting with magma coming through the cracks. Izumi jumped on a car to avoid. Not realising her new form or power until she smashed and melted through the car's roof. She admired herself for a second.

She felt the ground move taking her out of her daydreaming and dashed towards another car but instead of the flowy,graceful,smoke dash. It was a violent explosion that send her through another car. As a volcano errupted under the first one.
With lava flowing near her Izumi reached for it as she thought back on what she knew of conduits and surprise her hands filled with lava. It flowed through her,energising her and making her figure bigger,fuller,stronger.As she's aiming at Vulcan an image flowed into her mind and rocks shot from her gauntlet like a shotgun blast impacting Vulcan's chest cracking the rocky armour he had.

"Ha you're gonna have to try harder to hurt me." She kept shooting him launching herself from place to place. Dodging his shots and getting better at angling her jumps. With enough concentration she managed to absorb all the magma around. An image flashed again. With a second of concentration as she flew way up she twisted herself with her legs towards the sky. With all the lava she collected her feet errupted so hard so fast she blacke out for that half a second. Slamming into Vulcan and into the street under him. She found herself one hand on the villain's face. Thinking it was over the conduit sat up. "Huff i thought you weren't going down. Good thing i was wrong." She shrugged as a giant hand grabbed her neck. Making her choke.

"If you think that's enough to stop me, you haven't see anything. Time to taste real conduit power you insect." He raised his other arm towards Izumi and she instinctively reached for the one grabbing her. To her shock the rocks and lava flowed into her leaving his hand uncovered. Vulcan panicked and threw her away. His hand recovered slowly and he turned towards her with a hot glare.

"What is your power you parasite? My power seems to be coming back but if it wasn't you would have paid dearly." He was talking big but truly he was scared this girl didn't just take his lava. He felt weaker like she was draining him slowly. He needed to kill her now. Checking on his teammate Dusty Ash seemed to recover. She would be useful to turn this around. However just as he thought that. Something shot from the sky freezing everything around them solid. Looking up a figure was on top of a building.

"Long time no see Vulcan." 'That voice it couldn't be.'
Steam shot out of the lava conduit's ears as he screamed. "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE YOU PIECE OF SHIT?TOKETSU?" The figure looked like a knight clad in ice armour. He landed cracking the concrete under him.

"But very simply Vulcan. Did you really think blowing up the whole bunker would actually do anything? Maybe you did trade all your brain for rage." The Ash girl who recovered when Izumi wasn't paying attention tried to hold her laughter.

"Oh he got you there. Now can you please stop with the lover's spat. I really want to get on with my day. Hey freezy do you want to help me finish your boyfriend or are you here to spectate?" That made Ash absolutely break down laughing. And even icicle started chuckling.

"Did i say something funny?" It took a good minute till she realised the implication. She facepalmed and sighed."I'm an idiot. Whatever we are here to fight so let's fight." With a last yell she launched herself at the white haired conduit. Who saw mid laugh and turned into a cloud of ash to dodge away.

"Hey that's cheating. Making someone laugh only to attack them is underhanded. Only villains do that."

Izumi cocked her head to the side to empress her confusing. "Are you not a villain?"

"Yes i am. Aren't you a hero?" That made Izumi crack up.

"Even if i was why does that matter?" Why were they into a moral discussion right now? Izumi wanted to exchange fists not morals.

"Because heroes are supposed to be moral and just. If you trick a villain aren't you just as bad as them? The right thing would be for me to cheat and for you to still beat me. Otherwise we are just some people that decided to crack eachother's skulls one day."

"You watch too many video essays i can just tell."

"That's what i said too." Vulcan yelled at them as him and the ice knight were having a fist fight.

"Vulcan i told you that what i watch is not your business."

"And your comic book fantasy shit has no business with reality." He dodged an ice lance from the knight and threw lava to create separation.

"I swear i will make your life Ah-" Ash barely dodged out the way as Izumi divebombed in that same spot a second later."And i told you to stop cheating." She threw ash shots at Izumi who just charged at her basically ignoring the shots thanks to her new rock hard body. When she got close enough she straightened her arms as obsidian shards exploded from them and peppered Ash's body before she could dash away.

The ash cloud moved behind a car further down the street. She fell down panting her panic rose as she realised her body wasn't healing like it should. And the shrapnel stuck to her even in smoke form. 'We need to get out of here. Toketsu is bad news enough but this bitch is really becoming a problem. Where is Viento? i told him to get here 15 minutes ago.' She called him.

"What is it Ash?" The sound of munching was heard as he spoke. And Ash was about to blow a fuse. This motherfucker went to eat mexican food again? And now of all times?

"Gust where the fuck have you been. I asked you to get here and now for once we actually fucking need you. If you don't get here in the next 5 minutes i will make certain you will need a new hole to eat for favourite food with. Did i make myself clear?"

"Ye-yes yes you hmph yes you did Ash i will be there in 3 see ya." And he hung up. She sighed with relief. That lasted till she saw Vulcan get tag teamed. From a punch from Toketsu into a kick from the impostor conduit. A punch to the stomach into a shardshot to the back. Ash dashed towards them as the pair kept leathering Vulcan with hits cracking his armour and not letting him even breathe. And as she got close she threw an ash grenade it landed between them blinding everyone Vulcan included but it was necessary. She ran in her mask giving her an advantage of being able to see and breathe despite the cloud of hot ash.

She took her baton and wailed on the impostor. A swing to the back and a kick to the knee followed by a swing to the liver, a punch to the head and then another swing cracking the conduits mask. And making her stagger to the ground. But before she could attack Toketsu he froze the pavement locking her in place and took a swing in her direction making her dash away. Her anger grew cause he thought her all these moves himself so of course he knew how to deal with that.

A car horn interrupted anyone from attacking. Ash smiled this was their chance to escape. She dashed one final time dropping another ash grenade and taking Vulcan with her. She threw herself and Vulcan into the back of the truck. "GET US OUT OF HERE PRONTO." The tires screeched as Gust put pedal to the medal. Vulcan immediately protested as he was recovering from the ash in his eyes and lungs.

"What?Argh Ash you bitch. First you ergh blast me with your discount dust. And blergh now you take me away? I need to take care of both of them NOW." He kept coughing and complaining but she saw when he transformed out of his form. That fight took a lot out of him. His black skin was sweating, bruised and full of cuts and holes. She understood his frustration but him fighting like this could only make things worse.

"Look Vulcan. I understand you want to take Toketsu down. And likely that impostor as well. But you clearly can't fight as you are right now. Don't worry we will get the cores back, get stronger and we will teach those bastards what the Volcanic Thieves are all about,together." He stared at her for a second before dropping his head staring at the truck's ceiling.

"Maybe you're right. However both you and Gust need to be careful especially if Toketsu works with that bitch. She is a threat." Ash scoffed.

"Yeah right just cause she copies power doesn't mean she will be able to equal us." Vulcan punched down on the truck denting it in frustration.

"ASH. It's worse than just coping powers. She takes them away." Ash's expression turned to horror.

"What do you mean?" Vulcan looked at his hand.

"When fighting she touched me. And in a few seconds my arm was empty. Like the energy was sucked by a black hole. It felt disgusting,dark,cold and hollow. So whatever you do don't let her grab you."

Thoughts swirled in Ash's head from implications to nightmare scenarios. She just attacked a person that can really make her pay for it. Maybe in a worse way than killing her. She was nothing without her powers. If that person can take them away she needs to be killed as fast as possible for the good of every other conduit out there. Looking back on their conversation in the fight. Maybe the girl cheated because she was the villain. And Ash will be the valiant hero who will persevere and put the monster down for good. The conduit smiled looking up. "That would be a perfect conclusion to this story." Vulcan looked at her confused.

" What are you talking about?" Ash just shook her head. Vulcan wouldn't understand. He was too jaded to take anything she could say seriously."Nothing Vulcan. Nothing at all." Ash just needs to believe in herself. She is right and the righteous and just will always prevail in the end.

Chapter Text

Momo's day was fairly boring besides the teleporting taxi. It was the usual stuff of learning, asking questions, taking a break before doing more learning. Until she saw some classmates watching a video of a villain fight that happened on a street she was becoming familiar with.
It was definitely close to Izumi's apartment. The footage looked terrible in terms of quality. But she got the jist of it a villain filled the streets with lava and a hero with a similar quirk stopped him, alongside another hero she didn't recognize. Until his teammate saved him and they escaped.

Listening to her classmates that were watching the video, they didn't recognise the heroes either. But something was bugging Momo more. Izumi said heroes weren't really welcomed around those parts. Has that changed? Was Izumi lying? Was she wrong? Is Momo overthinking this? Probably. She still felt the need to call the girl if only to be sure she was ok. So she went to the bathroom for some privacy. Sitting in a stall she used the number Izumi gave her and called.

It ranged for a while but before Momo could get worried Izumi picked up. "Yo?" Momo heard her breathing. It was ragged and very heavy definitely didn't ease her concern.

"H-hello Izumi. It's Momo i uh wanted to ask if you're ok. I saw a villain fight that happened near your apartment." A quiet gasp was heard from the greenhead.

"Oh i-im fine. couldn't be better. I actually was out and about doing deliveries when it happened. I'm thankful nothing caught fire that would've been bad. What did you think of the fight?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Welll i didn't see it happen. So i was curious how it was. Plus you're planning to be a hero so analysing fights should be a good exercise for you right?" Momo felt skeptical but she let it go.

"That makes sense i suppose. Well i will probably need to watch it again to really analyse it. I couldn't the first time, worrying something happened to you."

Izumi laughed which confused Momo. But the conduit started talking before she could question it.
"Momo you're adorable, but really don't worry about me. I'm pretty strong. Also just a thought shouldn't you go back to class?" Looking at the clock Momo froze somehow class started and she hadn't noticed.

"Yeah you're right. Talkyoulaterbye." She hang up and ran.

With a chuckle Izumi pocketed her phone and activated the power again. Rocks sprouting from her skin covered her hand in a gauntlet almost instantly.
Her mind instantly went to what that Vulcan guy said.
"A parasite? Yeah sounds about right." She didn't dabble into the self deprecation for long.She really
needed someone to help her understand these powers.

She's thankful her clothes didn't burn off thats would have been annoying. And here she was in front of Okateika. She was late and hoped Kigyoka wouldn't be too mad about it.

"Morning sir. Sorry I'm late-" looking at the counter some hairy guy was in a staredown with the shop owner. Along with a girl with white hair who seemed out of it.
"Um what's going on here?" Her speaking louder made the two turned towards her. Looking at the other guy he definitely has a heavy bear mutation. Looking more like a bear on two feet wearing clothes than a human.

"Oh don't worry dear. These guys were just leaving." The guy turned probably giving Kigyoka another glare before going out the store. The girl following without a word. Something in her eyes freaked Izumi out. Like no-one was home.

"Who was that?" Something was not right about this whole situation and she needed to know what.

"Don't worry about it kid. He was just looking for something I can't get and got pissed about it." Ok. That makes sense. Considering how often people say Kigyoka can get you anything. When it's not true some would take it personal.

"Alright. Again I'm sorry I'm late. Some maniac kinda turned my whole street into the game floor is lava."

"Yeah I've heard. Apparently some heroes made him run. What's your take?"

"My take on what?"

"To me i think those two were vigilantes cause that would make sense. But people that told me were there swear on their honour that it was legitimate heroes. You were near there did you see anything? Cause i trust you far more than anyone else, besides my wife of course."

'Play nonchalant.' "Well to me they looked legitimate. The two looked like they didn't know eachother. But the lava guy was pissed at one of them, so it might be evidence to point towards at least one of them being a hero. The other one seemed green, causing a lot of damage to the whole street and letting the villain get away. So i say anyone of them could be either a hero or a vigilante. But the fact one didn't arrest the other is likely they were on the same side. So either two vigilantes that were there by chance for some reason. Or two heroes that came to patrol in this area for some fucking reason. The heroes thing sounds fucking bonkers though." Kigyoka seemed to agree.

"So you agree with me? I knew it seemed weird for some heroes especially new ones to come around here. That's the same as any green horn jumping to the most dangerous and complicated side of their job face first. Plus they probably won't get paid anything close to being worth the trouble. So its no way they would risk it." Izumi decided to argue to sell it more.

"But at least one of them seemed skilled enough to be a hero or a vigilante that's been around and I've never heard of one with ice before. I know Shadow walker is in the region this time of year. Emoticon hasn't been announced dead yet so it's likely they are still around. I've seen news of O Rápido racing ingenium last week around Hosu. Fatale is still probably going around unless she decides sex is better then fighting. I've never seen the ice guy before and I don't think someone that can turn the whole street into ice would be able to hide so well that neither of us heard about it. You get me?" The shop owner seemed to think for a moment before shrugging.

"Whatever I personally don't care if they are one or the other but you do make some points there. However I heard Señorita came around to investigate something ,so the villain might be connected. She could have brought someone with her from her home country as to hide them."

"But someone like that would be suspected immediately wouldn't they?" Kigyoka shrugged again.

"I mean probably but it's a possibility. Remember kid the weirdest shit can happen without explanation. Anyway i think we gossiped enough i have some deliveries for you here's the list also be careful with the small one." He pointed to one that was around the size of her forearm. That was in front of another 4 of different sizes." I know you are impeccable with your work but the owner seems like a lunatic so be extra careful. Don't need him on my ass or especially yours."

"Ok sir, bleh my throat is dry we should drink some tea when we do these discussions."

"We should. Maybe i will put a snack machine here or something. Anyway off ya go just get a soda from a store nearby and I'll pay you back." Izumi nodded as she grabbed the packages.

"Alright all packed and I'm off." The bald man waved as Izumi went out the door.

"Goodluck kid stay safe."

_________________________________________________________

"Yo boss it's that kid again with the packages? Should i let her in?" The yakuza boss looked up from his report.

"Yeah let her in. At least this time she learned to do it the right way." After a minute the green haired conduit entered waving.
"Sup Rojiya? Thanks for not threatening me this time."
The yakuza snickered.
"Yeah and i thank you for learning how doors are used. " The conduit snickered back.

"That's fair. Sorry about that again, anyway you have some important package apparently. As if everything else wasn't." She waved the small box in Rojiya's face who dropped his head and took it.

"Of course it had to be from him. I need to deal with that still." He muttered under his breath. Izumi heard him but she wasn't sure if she should talk about it. The man looked tired. More then Izumi and that is a miracle into itself.

"Are you good? You look tired." Best way to get info is to just prompt someone to talk and let them tell you everything themselves.

"I'm alright. Hey Kasuga bring me another coffee." A guy with short black hair,grey eyes and a slight dragon mutation at least on his face, having some scales picking from around his colar and around his eyes. The young man stood straight as he realized he was addressed. "Yes sir at once." He turned toward Izumi and smiled politely. "Would you like something as well miss?" Her mind hit a miss fire. Someone was polite towards her? That was unexpected. Besides Momo who was polite to everyone.

"Um ah a tea if it's not too much trouble p-p-please?" She wanted to die right about now. But the guy didn't care he just nodded and left. She wanted to grab the yakuza boss by the tie and ask him where did he get someone so polite. He looked at her and probably read her expression.

"Yeah he is like that. Don't ask me where i kidnapped him from. He came here one day wanting to work for me."

"He certainly leaves an impression."

"Oh definitely. It's annoying that he can be quite single minded in what he wants to do. And he is clumsy. But otherwise I can't complain about him. But enough about him. So basically this guy im working with someone has intercepted a package exchange. And he is very upset about it. The guy seems fucking nuts. Going around half his face covered in metal. With that bear guy and puppet girl following him."
'A bear guy and a puppet girl? No way.'

"Sorry for asking but what did they ask for?" The yakuza stared at Izumi for a long while seeming to try to read her soul.

"Why do you want to know that kid?" Izumi felt her pulse rise she risked it and it didn't pay off.'Calm down and breathe. He doesn't know anything yet. Im safe.' "I uh well a guy with a bear mutation and a girl acting like a puppet came to the shop and got into a stare down with the owner. So i felt it would be wise to try to understand what they are trying to do."

"Take it from me kid. You don't want to get involved with them. Let it go. They won't do anything to the shop as long as i have a say in it. You have my word."

"Ok if you say they won't then I'm gonna trust you." 'I'm sorry i have to lie to you Rojiya. But I'm not gonna let them walk free if their package is what i think it is. I need some way to get the info from someone. Going after the bear guy would be probably the easiest option. Take the info straight from the source. But I'm gonna need to find them. I can probably call the newbies and with them we could investigate much better. There is also the Shie Hassaikai can't forget about my favourite headaches.' the clattering of a cup took her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah don't worry. You can trust my word those guys won't try anything." Looking up she locked eyes with Kasuga. His expression seemed unsure,conflicted, perfect.
If you want to break something open you need to find a weak point. And Izumi was staring right at it.

She drank the tea, it was good. It was a bit too hot and definitely didn't have enough sugar but she will manage. Now she simply needed some way to make the guy talk. Thinking back on her manipulation plan. Number 1 know your target.

"So Kasuga. Your boss told me you came to work for him. As opposed to him recruiting you. So why did you join?" His unsure expression seemed to light up.

"Well his father took care of mine a long time ago. And before my father passed away he told me of the man that helped him with me when i was adopted. And i felt the obligation to help this clan as they helped me."

"That's a noble goal. And what do you want to achieve in this clan?"

"I want to rise as the dragon of the family. Someone that stands for honor, justice and protects the weak." You hear that ladies and gentlemen? That's the sound of a crack to poke at till the whole wall comes apart. Izumi might have preferred the obvious rich seeker that would sell their dignity for a few yen. But a heroic motivation is even better. Less straight forward but wayy more exploitable.

"Wow that's definitely something you don't hear from a yakuza often. Though I guess this clan is just different from everyone else." Looking at the boss he seemed to make a call. Probably to let us have some privacy. Perfect.

"So I'm curious. Why did you look so unsure when the boss was talking about his client? Do you not trust them?"

"In this line of work you can't trust anyone fully. But those guys." A guilty look appeared on his face. " They seem hungry and angry."

"Maybe they haven't ate. People get pretty annoyed when you don't eat." The young dragon shook his head.

"Not what I meant. It's.... How do i say this? I read emotions very well i can smell it cause of my quirk. They smelled rotten. It's difficult to explain. It's like their biggest desire was to take everything they can touch and burn it. And the girl with them she didn't smell like anything. People feel emotions no matter how good they hide it, that girl smelled like nothing. Just a hollow husk. Well except for one moment i smelled her when they were leaving."

"And what did she smell like?" The man's eyes turned to slits as he stared at the conduit.
"Fear. Her whole body smelled of someone scared for their lives. Like they weren't sure if they will die any second. I'm not sure what they are doing to her but I can't do anything without endangering everything i have here. Yakuza make their name through honor if we attack a client no one would partner with us." The way has opened ladies and gentlemen. She put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him close as she kept talking

"Well that's indeed a big dilemma. So let's make a deal." She was now whispering in his ear. "You tell me. Anything you know about those guys. And in exchange i shall deal with them and save the girl if she needs it. So how about it? Don't you want to save her? Be the dragon you claim to want to become?" Yes she was definitely pressing him hard. But it was needed in this case. Her hand took a piece of paper wrote on it and snaked it in his jacket.

"You have my number think on what i said and if you feel like doing something about all this call me." She got up and went to the door.

"Alright boss you're busy so i'mma see myself out. Good luck and maybe take a nap when you can." The man in question waved at her while still talking on the phone. She smirked,unable to keep her face neutral. It looked to her like she might have gotten a mole in the yakuza scene.

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Kayama woke up staring at a white ceiling. Her head throbbed with pain. She rose from her position and looked around the room. Multiple beds and medicine cabinets made her mind realise she was in the school's infirmary. But her brain felt clouded unablento really think. The hero jumped when she realised someone was in chair next to her. Shota was sitting in a chair napping.

She didn't want to wake him up so she got up to get some water. Or that was the plan but she suddenly felt light headed, a buzzing pierced her ears and fell back into the bed. Her hands clutched at her head from the pain as it seemed to grow worse. It felt like her brain was splitting open.

Shota opened his eyes to see Nemuri clutching her head moaning in pain. He immediately panicked and pressed the button to call Recovery girl to check on her.

"Hey Nem are you ok?" Yes it was a stupid question but he knows he isn't good at social stuff.

"Arg morning Shota and no my brain feels like it's exploding. What happened?" Her breathing was ragged and she was sweating profusely.

"I found you passed out on a roof. So maybe i should ask you that. But that can come later. First here drink these. It should work for the pain." He handed her some painkillers RG gave him.

She could barely hold the glass her body felt so weak. She will find the person responsible for this she swore it.
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Bearhead really wasn't having a good day. First he had to make zookeeper follow him like a younger sibling but this was bearable cause she was quiet.

Nah worse the shop owner got pissy with him for asking on any info he could give on Sal. Wait till he told Curator about this that shop will be whipped off the face of the planet. Wel that was the plan but now he had to deal with this freak. Some guy in ice armour was blocking his way. The knight had his lance pointed at them. At least he might release some stress.

"What is it freak? Wanna dance?"
He locked eyes with those dull,cold blue eyes.
"I want you to tell me what Curator is planning. And you're going to do it willingly."

"Ha you really are a freak. You don't know who you're dealing with, snowflake. And I'm gonna take pleasure in showing you." The bear mutant cracked his knuckles and neck. While whispering to Zookeeper to attack when the guy isn't paying attention.

"I see. No issue . Children need a little push to behave as they should. I will take my time to teach you." The air in the alley got severely colder. The knight raised their hand and a valley of shards shot forward in a stream. The mutant simply blocked and charged. A bear has very tough skin so he can simply shrug it off, get close enough and bite the fucker's head off. A stab in the leg stopped him charge. He could barely hold a scream as a spike was piercing his calf.

"Now give me the info. I'm not asking again." The tone made Bearhead feel like back in school. He hated it then and especially now. His teeth grinded against eachother. In a rage he took the spike out and jumped with all his might into his opponent. Wanting to take him off his feet and rip him apart. The conduit however formed a shield of ice that the mutant broke through only to receive an icy elbow launching him into the wall. Looking up the lance was touching his throat.

"You better give me the info mutant. Or i will make sure you'll fear the cold for the rest of your life." Those same bored blue eyes were piercing into his soul. And he laughed.

"Do what you want, freak. You can't kill me if you want the info. So do your worst." Just needed a few seconds for Zookeeper to wash this fool and Bearhead will show him who tortures who.

However as soon as the girl launched her soap bubbles at the knight ice shot forward freezing them and Zookeeper solid outside of her head. Before Bearhead could say anything. An ice dagger pierced his shoulder. He struggled but it was so cold it burned sending hot pain through his nervous system.

"Oh I'm not going to do than my worst. I will do my best."

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A tall man with spiky dark hair and blue eyes stepped out of the alley into the bussy street. He went on his way when a voice called out behind him."Yo." Turning around a woman with shoulder length dark hair and grey eyes and glasses stood there looking at him. She wore a dark sleeveless coat with bandages over her arms.

"What are you doing here?"

"Did you get the info?" Of course she completely ignored his question. He sighed.

"Yeah i did. So what?" The woman took his hand. And started dragging him.

"Then let's go?" Toketsu considered freezing her. But both knew he couldn't do it if he tried. "Fine. Can you let go of my hand? It's embarrassing." She looked at him with an utterly innocent smile.

"No chance." Yeah he expected as much.

"So how did your day go?"

"Oh you know. Burning some thugs for harassing people for money. Finding their base and cleansing it. A good productive day. How about you?"

"I met Vulcan and the others again. The reaction stung more than i thought it would. Some new vigilante was fighting him. She gives me a bad vibe."

"A bad vibe? In what way?" Toketsu locked eyes with her.

"She feels dangerous in a way I can't fully explain. Something about her is making my gut wretch. She seemed innocent when talking to her but the sensation wouldn't go away. I'm not sure how or why. But she deeply freaks me out." Ok the girl was definitely freaking out too. Her brother never showed fear not even towards their father. But this person made him admit he is afraid. Whatever was her deal she was a danger. And the fire conduit wanted to learn what was so dangerous about her.

"Well i hope you made her an ally then." Her brother looked baffled.
"Are you crazy? Im telling you this girl makes my body react in fear and you want to be friends with her?"

"I mean yeah if her power could bring the apocalypse. I want to be on her side. Don't you?" The ice man can say he hates when his sister makes sense but she was right.

"I didn't talk to her much. Just what Vulcan was doing here. " The girl sighed and shook her head.

"Oh brother you and your lack of social skills. Well that tells me i should stay with you till we meet the girl again. I just hope you didn't screw it up." Toketsu looked at the sky he hoped the feelings he had for that girl were wrong. Cause otherwise he wasn't sure he could win against her.

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Izumi sneezed wandering if someone was talking about her. It was a beautiful day to take a stroll. She was in her new vigilante uniform as it helped her with what she planned to do. She stopped in front of a big red wooden gate. Now she had a choice to make. Ring the doorbell or the fun option. Considering she dressed so fancy for them she thought the fun option but she would be polite if only for a minute as a guest should. So she pressed the interphone careful to not crush it with her big stone hand.

"Who is it? What do you want?"

"Hello mister receptionist. I came to see your boss. We need to discuss something important. So open the door before i do." Yeah the minute of politeness went by pretty fast.

"Who do you think you are? Get lost before we teach you some manners."

"I see oh well. I will tell the boss to take it out of your paycheck."

"Take what of my paychec-." Izumi shoved her whole boot into the door. The bottom exploded like with her jumps. The hot stone and lava utterly obliterated the door. Looking around the yard a few thugs were scattered all over the place. Most looked confused and shocked. At the unexpected entrant.

Izumi took a deep breath. And then she announced her. "TELL YOUR BOSS TO SHOW HIS UGLY OLD MUG. OR I WILL TURN THIS WHOLE BUILDING TO RUBBLE." Yeah that probably described her intentions very well.

The instant she said that the alarm blared and all the thugs in the yard either came straight for her or tried to attack from a distance. With a volcanic jump she slammed into a group of them. And then exploded the ground sending dirt and dust into the air blocking any ranged attacks for a second as she assesed the situation. Some guys were in a group each charging attacks in their hands. Another near them had a bunch of stones and knifes floating around them. Something Izumi observed is a lot of them were wearing masks similar to yokai masks.

With another jump she was appon the ranged enemies. Before they realized what was happening she turned her left gauntlet into a tentacle and slammed it into the psychic. The force of the stoney appendage sending him flying into the group as the tentacle followed sending them all flying.

Izumi melted the wall near them and absorbed it. Realising they weren't knocked out she stuck stone to their hands and feet. Turning around she was greeted by a huge fist sending her bouncing off a wall into another where her momentum stoped. Sliding down she realized a guy that was 10 times her size was in the way. He was wearing a tank top and cargo pants both with armour around his midsection and shoulders, giant metallic gloves covering his massive fists.He looked like an oni with a big one horned demon mask over his face.

"Oh you're a big motherfucker." Straightening her back till she heard a pop. She locked around seeing the goons standing back. So this guy was a big deal. Locking eyes both the conduit and the giant were ready for a fight that only the other could bring.
"What's your name big guy? I don't think I've had the honour of meeting you last time i was here. My name is Izumi no last name" The giant gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

"Name is Rikiya Katsukame. I am considered the guardian of this part of the compound so i have to defeat you i guess. Couldn't you have attacked later? I was napping before you came."
"Oh i apologize for that. After i kick you in the dirt i will ask for your number,so next time i come here i will inform you in advance." The man gave a grunt and a nod. Signaling talking was over.

They both started stretching to the confusion of everyone watching. Yet no-one dared interrupt. The popping of joints and cracking of stone were the only sounds in the growing tension.

With a yell the giant charged and Izumi dashed to meet him. Rikiya went with an overhead punch. Ready to burry Izumi into the ground. The conduit made a blast in her hand sending her out the of the hand. And then another one spinning her into a haymaker right in the giant's face. The force sending him tumbling slightly. Only for him to retaliate with an uppercut, sending izuki spinning into the sky.

As her momentum slowed she made explosions through her feet planning to slam the giant into the dirt like she did to Vulcan. "TECTONIC SLAM." Her first buried into the dirt the next moment moving too fast to process where the giant had gone. A giant hand slapping her through the wall onto the street informed her that he probably dodged.

Getting her bearings she found herself denting another car. She hoped this wasn't becoming a trend. Seeing the giant charge at her she panicked melted the car into a shield as she jumped out the way. With another boost from her feet she slammed into the man's knee. Almost making him fall over her. She kept serving punches with a side of magma shots into the goliath's massive back as she climbed towards his head.

All the while the man kept struggling to get her off him. He jumped onto his back but Izumi exploded off, into the air and back down again. Rikiya barely dodging the slam a second time. He didn't however dodge the ball of half melting metal shot at his torso. Making him tumble a third time.

Both stopped and analysed each other both were gasping for air gathering their thoughts not sure how to deal the finishing blow. A yell made both of them turn. A yellow red blur slammed into Rikiya's mask. Putting the giant flat on the ground. "POOOOWWWERRR!" The man that did it struck a pose right on the giants chest.

'Shit a hero.' Analysing the man she didn't recognize him. His hair was posed up in the most ridiculous anime haircut Izumi has seen in real life. His outfit was composed of a yellow visor. Blue and white pants and a red cape covering a white shirt with 1000000 imprinted on the front.

"Wow good shot kid. I thought i was in trouble there." She took advantage of her outfit. Pretend you're a pro and sneak away when they are busy.

"Oh no issue. Thank your luck i was nearby. Sorry what's your hero name? I haven't see you before."

"How about you give me a name and license young man? You look too young to be a pro. And i don't feel like arresting someone that just saved my ass." The blonde immediately panicked,not expecting to be put on the spot. Izumi thanked her quick thinking. So the saying goes. Wanna go somewhere? Pretend you belong there. The guy kept petting his pockets searching for his license. Not really paying attention to the attack coming from the laying giant.

His huge hand grabbed the hero. Izumi tried to shoot his hand. Cause while she didn't want to be caught she also didn't want to watch some guy die. However the giant opened his hand only to find the blonde wasn't there. In a split second he shot from the ground and uppercut the giant with blinding speed.

Landing near her he showed his provisional license.
"Sorry about that. Sir said i should pay more attention to things around me. My name is Lemillion. And yours?" Izumi was mute.

"Oh sorry i genuinely thought you were gonna die there kid. My name is Magnum i know I'm not very known.What's your quirk if you don't mind me asking?" She really felt she should make herself unseen before more heroes came along.

"My quirk is permeation. I can pass through anything but I can't see,hear or breathe. What's yours?" 'Can't see,hear or breathe. So i should wait till he activates it and dissapear.' the giant came charging once more. They dodged to the side Izumi positioning herself closer to the gate . Seeing the guy slip into the floor again. She sprinted into the compound. Not before saying more to herself. "My quirk is that i dissapear when idiots don't pay attention." She snickered as she entered.

The place looked deserted. The guys left probably cause the police were coming. So she decided to get to it as fast as she could not sure who would win the fight. Or how much time she had until she found out.

Running inside the rooms were empty. "Damn these fuckers move fast. How will i find the boss now?" She heard some steps echoing through the hallway. Not running but definitely coming closer. Looking out the door. There came a woman. She was wearing a white military dress with those frilly shoulder things Izumi liked but couldn't remember the name of. On top of her snow white hair was an admiral's cap also white with Shie Hassaikai emblem on it. Everything on her had golden accents from her boots to her cloves.

"Oh hello there. My men told me you were looking for the boss. I'm sorry to disappoint but he has retired." Her voice sounded royal like Momo but condescending unlike Momo's warm tone. Whether she was important or just felt important Izumi will learn in a minute.

"Oh well in that case would you mind pointing me at the person who is now in charge? I was hoping to discuss an arrangement i had with the old boss. And ask if it's still valid." Hearing a clicking noise the woman was pointing a flintlock pistol at her.

"Well seeing as I'm the new boss. You'll have to discuss it with me. I hope that's not a problem." Her smug little face showed off those red eyes.

Izumi readied a dash to take the white girl off her feet. "Yeah no problem at all."