Chapter Text
The city is eerily quiet. There seems to be far less people than there should be. After all, the Arch Villain had just destroyed an entire Tokyo ward. Mordorin Ward, previously the most populated area of the city, had been reduced to a flat space. In the centre stood a mysterious man, cloaked in a dark cloak. The man`s face seemed to be obscured by darkness.
“My plans have finally come to fruition. I`m now unstoppable!”
Suddenly, pulling themselves out of the wreckage, one last hero emerged.
“I won’t let you win, Villain! Today is the day you fall!”
The hero, Clad in red, white, and blue, leaped forward, taking the villain head on, while his allies saved who they could. But…
Before the villain could be hit, he leaped out of the way!
A gruelling fight ensued, with the hero using many of his most powerful moves, slowly whittling down the arch villains endurance.
Everything fell apart when the villain used its ultimate attack, sending out many pillars of fire.
The hero, despite his effort, was destroyed. The Villain laughed manically.
“I suppose not even you could take me down, All Might!”
GAME OVER
A groan echoed out as the screen faded to black, leading to a loading screen. If he could just dodge that last attack, He`d be able to beat the boss he’s been stuck on for hours now. If he’s going to move out like he plans to, he`s at least got to beat “All Mighty Conquest 2: Company Of Heroes” before he does!
Turning away from the screen, he faces towards his desk. While it`s still messy, but it`s cleaner than it`s been for weeks. It had taken him 5 hours to clean all the trash out of his room, but it had been worth it for the look Da gave him alone. Nonetheless, his work towards his new project was not over just yet. On his table sat a custom-made mask, crafted with care. When combined with a hood, it would hopefully cover his face. Along with a pair of thick gloves, a nice pair of baggy pants, and a dark black jacket, the ensemble would cover up his… unique body structure, hopefully keeping him anonymous. Once he had a bit more cash, he could invest in some better body armour, but that was expensive, and he had spent almost all of his (non-legal. Was gambling on last year’s sports festival unethical? Probably. It`s going towards a good cause now though!) cash on a pair of quirk enhanced brass knuckles to slip under his gloves. He had considered knives, but they lay a little to close to the idea of lethality than he liked.
Altogether, he thinks he`s put together a damn good vigilante costume.
Every day, he thinks, Iguchi Shuichi gets one step closer to spinning a new fate for himself.
6 Months ago, He had been inspired by a powerful speech, spoken at the scene of an almost deadly villain attack, featuring an anonymous man defending a boy who had stopped another`s death due to inattentive heroes.
“I would recommend taking a good look at yourselves, heroes, before it`s too late. As of right now, however, YOU DISHONOUR THE LEGACY OF ALL MIGHT AND ALL HEROES LIKE HIM!”
It had struck a chord with him after being nothing for so long.
A legacy. That`s what those heroes had. One of honour. If he wanted to do something, he couldn`t just kill heroes who did bad things. After all, that made them martyrs. That was what the Hero Killer, another vigilante he had followed for a while, did, and Shuichi had concluded that he was pretty much just a serial killer in a funny outfit.
If he was going to do this, becoming a vigilante, he was gonna do it properly. Thus, he had been training, practicing his martial arts, and taught himself how to do research. He was about as close to overprepared as one could get for this kind of thing, bar one important step. All that’s left would be to get his own place. He’s not working out of Da`s attic. Not a chance. That, of course, necessitates a job. And to get one of those…
“we`re sorry, but we don’t think you fit the culture of our establishment, and…”
Shuichi was getting awfully tired of the whole quirkism thing. He`ll admit to being awfully sheltered in his youth (Ma was always like that before her diagnosis. It kept child him happy at least), but even now it was worse than he thought. He had even stuffed himself into Da`s old suit!
Nonetheless, despite his best efforts, all three jobs that he had gotten to the interview stage for had rejected him. Even the damn cashier job! What was he gonna do, eat the till?
He sighed as he began his trek home. He`d gone to two interviews today, with neither having success, and the sun had set, and the nightlife had begun.
He`d simply have to keep looking. A to some degree legitimate job was step one in his plans. He`d have to find someone to hire him eventually, right?
As he strolled towards a nearby alleyway, he began to hear the noises he often heard on his trek home.
“Aw, come on, sweet cheeks, don`t you wanna come with me? I`ll give ya` a good time and everythin!”
“Yeah, I think I`ll pass, buster. I don`t think I got what you want, and your clearly as drunk as sin over there!”
Shuichi peeked into the alleyway. No harm in taking a look, no? His whole shebang now was being heroic if he could, but he wasn`t exactly dressed for the work.
He spotted two individuals. A large, very clearly drunk man who`s arms were about double the size they should be, and a tall and muscular woman that stood only a little shorter than the guy. Both were taller than him at least. He was almost certain the lady could handle herself, but…
“Hah? You think I’ll take no for an answer? Why I aughta…”
The man walked (stumbled. His quirk must have had some kind of balancing aspect, because he hands somehow never touched the ground despite his arms being so long). The woman stepped back, but had her fists clenched, clearly prepared to fight back, but-
*WHAM*
(Why does this world have so many conveniently placed metal pipes? There`s whispers of a legend of a vigilante group who distributed the things. Why? A question that remains unanswered, but a certain green haired kid theorised that their leader possessed some degree of future prediction and used it to conveniently help people. Perhaps it really is just chance.)
Theres a pretty precise amount of force needed to hit someone`s neck and knock them out without killing them. Luckily, Shuichi had five twelve-hour podcasts and no job. Plenty of time to practice.
As the man collapsed to the floor, unconscious, he quickly threw the pipe into the nearby dumpster, quickly backing away from the woman.
An awkward silence followed as he scratched the back of his neck.
“uuuuuh…. That was… I mean, you probably coulda handled yourself, but, you know, misogyny…”
The lady was silent for only a moment longer, before her grimace shifted into a grin as she barked out a laugh.
“Damn kid, that was a good knockout! Much cleaner than what I would have ended up doing.”
He chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah. I`ve been, uh, practicing. Yeah.”
The lady snorted at that. “Damn right. Anyhow... You look like you just came out of a funeral, kid. You good?”
He sighed, looked downcast. “Failed job interview. Again. I got to get home and start sending out more emails…”
The lady perked up at that. “I feel you, kid. Tell you what. As thanks for the whole beating up creepy arm dude thing, let me get you a drink. My treat!”
He didn`t have any plans for the night. Not really. “Sure, I guess…”
“Good choice. What`s your name? If we`re gonna go out drinking, I can`t exactly keep calling you kid, huh?”
He blinked. Right. That`s what people ask when they talk to other people. “Oh…it`s Shuichi. Shuichi Iguchi!”
The lady laughed one more time as she began to walk.
“Theres the spunk I was expecting after you clubbed a guy! The names Kenji Hikiishi, but I can`t say I’m a fan of it, so you can just call me Magne! Now come on, lets skedaddle before this guy wakes up and snitches to the cops about your face!”
As the la- Magne- began to walk, she raised a hand, waiting for him to follow. Perhaps he`d get something out of tonight, even if it wasn`t a job.
The bar they had arrived at was a little small, but it had a pretty homely vibe. A sign outside boasted that the place had been around since before quirks, but the place had clearly undergone renovations plenty of times. A clean mahogany floor was lined with a few tables, surrounding a central stage that was currently empty. It was clearly close to closing time. Near the entrance stood the bar itself, with a clean marble top. Behind it stood one of the place`s three occupants, an older man. He was a short, stocky man, with a kind face and shock white hair.
As Magne and Shuichi walked into the room, the man looked up and waved at them. The first thing he noticed was the man`s smile at Magne, one of recognition at least. The second thing he noticed was that the man had no hands. Quite literally, as his arms seemed to cut off into nothingness at the wrists. Meanwhile, a floating cloth continued to clean out a floating cup.
“Evening, Magne! I see you brought the goods and a buddy!”
Magne chuckled a she moved the bag she was holding towards the man. Once It was close enough, it began to float, but not before the cup and cloth had been put down.
“Phantom hands. Pretty nifty, no?”
He blinked as he realised he had been staring. The man laughed as he looked away, embarrassed.
“Relax, happens all the time. Now, what can I get you two?”
The pair sat down by the bar and began their chat. Shuichi spoke up first.
“You gave that barkeep something there. Were you already on the way here?”
Magne took a sip of the simple beer glass she had ordered.
“Yep. In fact, I just so happen to live right above this place, so dragging you along was a nice little bonus, bean sprout. This place was the only place I could get employed with my whole, well, me. Mostly odd jobs, cleaning up and such, but I sometimes waiter too. It`s good work. What about you, kid?”
He quickly took a sip from his fruit juice (the one thing both Ma and Pa could always agree on was to steer clear from alcohol.) in order to organise his thoughts.
“First of all, bean sprout? Kid? I’m barely any smaller than you are, lady! And you`re, what, 30 at best?”
He grumbled to himself as Magne and the man behind the bar both laughed at him.
“Anyways, there`s not much for me to tell. I look like this, so it`s not like our modern society has much to give me. At least Da can wear clothes to hide his quirk. Me? Not so much. Been trying to get a job so I can get out the house and help Da, but no one wants to hire me. Simple as.”
(There was the other goal of beating up criminal heroes for fun, profit, and maybe a bit of justice, but that was something he couldn`t exactly throw around)
Magne smiled and put her free hand on his shoulder.
“I feel you, bud, what with the whole not looking like we`re supposed to solidarity and all. Keep at it, though. Prove those asshats wrong, I say!”
In the background, a man in the background shouted out “Hear hear!”. Said man, with a cat quirk, was clearly a little drunk, and had deigned to ignore the files spread about on his table. The normal looking guy sitting next to him sighed but chuckled quietly as he covered the files from any prying eyes.
He smiled at that. It felt nice to get some support, even if it was from people who he didn`t know, who also had no idea what they were cheering on.
The barkeep, who had finished putting the supplies that Magne had brought away, spoke up.
“where`d you drag this guy in from, Mags? He`s quite the character!”
He began to space out as Magne began her (slightly dramatized, but with the parts that would get him arrested removed) retelling of the event that had happened about an hour ago. Social interaction was definitely not his forte. He`d need to practice. At his current level, he definitely wouldn`t be throwing out any grand speeches.
“And that’s when I dragged the guy over here. Pretty cool, eh?”
The old man chuckled, clearly used to Magne`s antics.
“You sound like a pretty good man, Iguchi-san. Say… do you have any more interviews lined up?”
He raised his non-existent eyebrow at the question.
“Nah. I`ve got a few more potential places, but most of their pays aren`t great, so I was hoping I`d pull one of the earlier ones.”
The man seemed to smile at that. Suddenly, his hands seemed to reappear as he stopped using his quirk. They appeared vaguely translucent, but they were there, now.
“Well then, Iguchi-san… how would you feel about working for me?”
Both Magne and his eyes bulged at the idea. Him? They were both silent.
“That was about the response I expected. We`ve just met, but you helped Magne out, and that’s good enough for me. I`m an old man now, but I intend to run this bar of mine until the day I die. Nonetheless, I’ve slowed down a lot, so I need the help. You can take over Magne`s odd jobs, plus a bit extra, meaning Magne can waiter full time. I`ve got the money to pay you both, and the extra labour means I can hopefully bring in some more float. It`s a win-win, no?”
Shuichi couldn`t hide his shock at the offer.
“I…uh, hwah? I, Sir, uhm…”
“Hando Furōto. I’m aware that it`s awfully on the nose. I was born with the quirk, and the surname was right there, so how could my folks not? I get that my offer seems like a lot, so I don’t mind if you think about it for a bit.”
Furōto pulled out a small card.
“Here. Its got my number on it. Oh! I almost forgot. You’re looking for housing too, right? The apartment upstairs has one more room that you can use. It`s not the biggest, but it`s got enough space for a desk and a bed, and it`s got cupboards!”
That would… cross out step two. The opportunity he needed was here, and it arrived by sheer chance. He would be a fool not to take it.
“Furōto-sama, you have no idea now idea how much this means to me. Thank you!”
Furōto smiled quietly at him.
“I think I do, Iguchi-san. I had to deal with being ‘no-hands-Furōto’ for most of my life. I got to pay it forward somehow, no? Now head home. It`s pretty late, and this is something you should probably chat to your guardian about before accepting. And drop the Sama! I may be 65, but I’m still young at heart!”
Shuichi practically leapt out his chair, noticing the time. And left the building in a hurry.
“ThankyousomuchFurōtosanigottagoIwilltalksoonokBYEEEEE!”
As Furōto laughed, Magne groaned.
“Kid, wait, you never finished your dri-oh forget it, he’s long gone. You made a good choice there, boss. I can`t wait to see what comes of it!"
(After talking to his father, who was very excited for him, Shuichi quickly accepted the job, and moved in a week later, considering there wasn’t much he needed to bring anyways. Shuichi didn`t plan on having two life debts before even starting his vigilantism, but he was always one to take things as they came.)