Interlude: Chisaki (Patreon)

Interlude: Chisaki

They were in a warehouse.

Not a place he would usually deem fitting for anything he involved himself in but as needs must- he had to swallow his disgust at the current venue if only for the sake of pragmatism and convenience.

Even with its interiors given the best clean-up time allowed, the place was disgusting. Spartan and bare, with distant corners sporting cobwebs, dust and the lingering odor of stale air and rat musk.

Inside, the meeting room was just as bare.

A table where all of the Shie Hassaikai lieutenants and their leaders could sit and discuss business. Along with a garage where a few vehicles were kept and several entrances to their tunnel network that could be blown should the need arise,

Ordinarily, the meeting room wouldn’t be used by the Bullets at all.

It would be for business meetings, with people that couldn’t be seen meeting with them.

Politicians, cops negotiating their bribes, rival gang defectors, informants, snitches.

Meeting with the eight bullets was redundant. Phones existed. And having so many lieutenants in one place was a risk. Too much of the leadership  in one location made them vulnerable to any number of attackers.

But this situation… it demanded that they speak face to face.

Overhaul made a point not to sit down as he entered the room, noting the faces of the Eight Bullets. None of them looked scared even through their masks, the collective remembering what they were.

Human garbage, with only a few uses.

Yet, even with that title, none of them met his gaze save Shin. The cynical man said nothing.

“I won’t waste any time explaining why I called you here,” he said softly.

He calmly, at long last took his seat at the head of the table, looking at the others, his gaze lingering on each for the barest of moments.

“So I’ll just ask a simple question,” he continued, carefully taking one glove off his hand.

Every single person in that room tensed.

It was an obvious warning to them, they knew what his quirk was capable of, what he had done to others with it.

He wouldn’t kill them with it, they knew that, for what little they were worth they were worth *something*.

It was bad business to simply just throw something out for an annoyance. New to this game he might be, Chisaki wasn’t like that old Hoarder King, All for One. He knew what he had, he wouldn’t waste it.

But his quirk did allow him… *liberties* with how he punished those that disappointed him.

After all, he didn’t *have* to have his quirk be quick.

So with that same deliberateness, he took off his other glover and steepled his fingers.

“Where?” The question was just one word, but it didn’t require elaboration.

No one spoke, and Overhaul felt his ire grow.

“Nothing?” he asked the silent room, “Between the eight of you, you control four captains and they in turn control enough brothers to have an ear from Nagano to Fukushima, and you can’t find one little girl!?!”

Yu and Toya flinched at the tone, the disappointment radiating from his voice

“We’re looking into all of the hospitals and stations,” Shin said, voice level despite the rage that he’d been witness to, “She can’t have gotten far. We will find her.”

“You’ve had days-” He stressed. “-and all I’m hearing are platitudes?”

“T-tokyo’s a big city,” Toya mentioned, “We’ve considered putting out an alert-”

“Considered?” Chisaki interrupted, “You’ve considered but you haven’t *done* it yet?”

It was the simplest thing in the world! They’d practically have heroes looking *for* them. The product knew better than to blab about where she’d been, and legally, Chisaki was her guardian.

“We were in the middle of trials,” Yu pointed out, “If they took her to a hospital and tested her, they’d see the drugs in the tests and that would cause questions.”

Chisaki just looked at the man with a mercilessly flat expression.

“Then why do we have those fake medical records? Did I pay all that money because they look good on a damn desk?”

Yu said nothing, just bowing his head a bit further, which was expected.

“We’ll just get some of those police to look for us!” Soramitsu said behind his bagged head, “We’ll find her!”

“We better,” Chisaki said.

They already had buyers.

“So I won’t be wasting any time. Any favors that won’t add to our expenses too much you can make. Every set of ears online and in person that you can get, you call them in, I don’t care what they’ve been doing.”

Deidoro leaned up, shifting in his seat.

“Y-you sure about that? Hic… like… some of the guys… they’ve been working a lot, haven’t even gotten a drink man.”

“You misunderstand,” Chisaki said slowly, “The order comes from the Boss, not me.”

That shut the drunkard up. He practically whimpered and bowed his head just at the mention of the Boss.

“Did the Boss request this overtime?” Shin asked, spine straightening.

Chisaki nodded. At that, the rest of the Bullets bowed their heads in apology.

“The Product needs to be finished as soon as possible. Eri is the key to that.”

“All Might’s been more active recently- Hic-” Deidoro slurred. “Might be risky.”

True; the Symbol of Peace could practically teleport with how fast he was, and the last thing they needed was him stumbling on anything. Not Eri, not a delivery or a trial. Nothing. The man and his sidekicks had been on a warpath ever since the Sports Festival.

Even so-

“Just get it done.” He sneered, standing. “The next call I get from anyone here better be that you found her!.”

Every member of the bullets gave a nod, not even daring to look at him.

Chisaki marched out of the little ‘conference room’ leaving them to their task. They would get results, or each would discover in excruciating detail just what it felt like to have their bodies torn apart fiber by fiber.

He left the warehouse shortly after, his car almost standing out in the grimy, run down neighborhood.

Driving across town he let his eyes pass across every alley and shadowed street corner, as if he might just find the insipid, worthless girl in one of the darkened thoroughfares, hiding behind a dumpster.

No such luck.

After arriving in the parking complex he quietly stepped out of the car,  and upon entering the lobby he took the private elevator up to the penthouse.

It was a stark contrast between the warehouse and this place, which was surrounded with the most expensive, lavish decor money could buy, with every aspect of the modern building's interior design bent to traditional Japanese aesthetics, from the floors, to the walls to the simplistic ink murals.

The elevator rose with nary a sound, a whisper of air chimed as the doors opened on his floor.

He wasted little time, turning and marching towards his rooms to get changed.

Minutes later, he was knocking on a door, and the two guards posted outside offered him acknowledging nods.

“Enter.” A voice breathed.

The guard beside him turned, pulling the sliding door open to let him in.

“Chisaki,” the Boss wheezed, seated in the chair as he usually was. An oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth. Beneath his robes, his left arm was shriveled and atrophied. The “stroke” that should have placed him in a coma robbed him of his mobility long ago. At least the short-term memory loss was the worst of the cognitive effects. The man who taught a young Kai about the Yakuza was not likely to survive... another attempt.

The man known as Overhaul bowed. “Sir.”

“Do you… have an update?” The old man rasped.

“Not much of one,” Chisaki admitted, able to be honest for once. “Rest assured; I’ve relayed your orders. Everyone is searching.”

“There must be something.”

“The eight bullets know what’s at stake, they won’t fail us.” He reassured, though in truth he wasn't sure if the words were said more for the old man's benefit, or his own.

The Boss wanted the granddaughter he didn’t even know; he wanted the asset they still needed to perfect his weapon. Though the old man didn’t know it, they had long ago fallen into different methods of thinking.

Frankly, in his opinion Eri didn’t deserve the man’s unfailing if distant doting.

Not a day went by, nor a single report given that he didn’t ask about her, after her safety and wellbeing.

He supposed it was convenient that the Boss trusted him utterly and took him at his word.

Not that he had much voice. The guards knew which of them wasn’t bound to a wheelchair. “Once we find her, we’ll get her back, I’ll pick her up myself to make sure of it.” He said.

“Good, good, I knew I could trust you Chisaki.”

“You always could, and that won’t change.”

The Boss nodded, his shriveled left arm twitching with the phantom pull of firing nerves. “Then you’ll be able to finish the bullets soon? I can only delay our buyers so much before they start asking more questions.”

“If they do, you can just start jacking the price.”

“And scare off more avenues before we can secure the ones we have?” the boss asked, and Chisaki could imagine the old man shaking his head, “The price remains where it is until the other families and organizations get confirmation that they work. After that, we could make them the price of Tokyo tower and we’d still have buyers.”

True enough. That was the key to the vision he’d shared with the Boss long ago: When you control who has power in this diseased society of Heroes and Villains, the resources of Japan will fall into the Yakuza’s lap.

The Boss leaned back in his seat. “Still- Have you made contingencies for the Batman?”

That gave him pause. “Him?” He asked with notable incredulity “A faker in a overpriced jumpsuit? Why do you assume he’ll suddenly be an issue?”

“There have been rumors from some of our informants near our neighborhoods. Sightings and such.”

“Idiots jumping at shadows. This bat is not the real Bat and even if he is; he is no threat.” Chisaki said dismissively.

“That’s what All for One thought. I’d rather not suffer a similar fate and lose what little power is left to us.” The old man sneered.

Chisaki played up the sigh in his voice.

“Very well, I’ll get some extra men to keep watch on our assets and houses and make sure there aren’t any unwanted guests.”

“Good, if there are any issues, let them know I’ve authorized it.”

“Of course sir; thank you.”

“But my granddaughter is the highest priority,” he stressed, voice firm, “I’m calling in some of the lesser families in Hakiado for more eyes.”

That was problematic. The Hakiado were not exactly in his pocket. “Have them call me, I’ve already got search patterns set out,” Overhaul lied; if he intercepted them soon enough he could ‘control’ their search area. If they found Eri first and delivered her to the old man- the nature of just who was the source of their ‘product’ would be revealed again and he would have a much bigger problem on his hands: The fact he’d lied to The Boss.

Another laugh.

“They already know to call you.”

Then again having the old man’s complete confidence was a gift that kept on giving. “I won’t fail you.”

“Keep me apprised of any leads, and call me the moment that you find her.”

Chisaki bowed, “Of course”

He wanted to see Eri when they got her back, that would cause issues. He needed to make sure that she was properly educated before she was brought in.

He’d have to ensure that he was the one that found her first.

Regardless, they only needed Eri for a bit longer anyway, then they’d all tumble. Everyone from All Might to All for One. The great equalizer.

He rose from his bow, his eyes now landing fully on the wheelchair bound man- and stiffened.

Leering with malice from behind the pane glass window of the penthouse were two glowing white eyes.

“GET AWAY FROM THE WIN-”

His shout was cut off, emerging too late.

The window pane exploded, the shatterproof glass proving not so shatterproof as millions of shards were scattered across the inside of the bedroom. The flash of fire and smoke made him wince as he covered his eyes. While blind for a moment, he still caught the startled, choked off scream of the Boss.

The door behind him crashed open, and guards rushed in with weapons drawn. As he lowered his arm and took in the scene Chisaki felt his heart lurch in his chest, hands flying out to his sides.

“STOP! DON’T SHOOT!”

The winds howled and the old man squirmed in a grip that was like black iron. Talons dug into his flesh, and the hand gripping him from the back of the neck, using  him as a living human shield against his own guards.

The Batman, ‘expensive jumpsuit’ and all stood at the very edge of the building; poised to drop.

“Gentlemen.” The voice snarled out of the helmet, a sound that seemed to reverberate through the floorboards. “You’re lucky. When I deign to make house calls, they usually end in emergency room visits.”

“Let him go!” One of the guards barked, trying to circle around.

In response, the Bat… stepped back, one of his feet now dangling over the edge.

“STOP MOVING YOU FUCKING IDIOT!” Chisaki shouted. As much as the old man needed to be maneuvered around he did NOT want him dead. Not for anything! “What do you want!?” He demanded, mind whirling to catch up with the conversation as quickly as he could. “You said your visits usually end in a certain way but that we’re lucky. So something’s different- you want something!”

The Bat nodded, the Boss still gasping in his unmoving grip. The old man’s one working arm tried uselessly to pry the fingers from his neck “One day… I’ll come back. I’ll deal with you- make no mistake. But you can delay that, for a price.”

Chisaki nodded. “And that is?”

“All for One.”

The man known as Overhaul felt his eyes go wide. “What!?”

The Bat didn’t speak, just glared menacingly from over the Old Man’s shoulder.

“We’ve got no dealings with All for One. We’re his biggest rivals.” He explained.

“You have informants.” The Bat pressed. “Snitches. Spies. Even just the addicts you give drugs to for information. I don’t care where or how you find him. Only that you do.” The arm finally moved, bending inwards so the old man could finally look him in the eye.

“One week.” The ‘hero’ said. “I’m giving you One. Week. Give me what I want. Or when I return… None of you are safe.”

His arm shot out, throwing the old man clear across the room and straight into Chisaki, who tumbled under the Boss’ weight even as he was very careful to keep all five fingers from touching the older man.

The guards leveled their guns. But with a simple backstep the Bat fell from the window, dropping down.

By the time they made it to the edge…

He was gone.

—

Gliding away on red wings Terry heard the crackle in his ear.

“Risky” Rivu noted- repeating herself really given how she’d been airing her concerns since he proposed this plan. “-but it probably worked.”

That was new- “Oh?”

“You’re more intimidating than I gave you credit for.”

“A complement?” He chuckled. “Should I mark my calendar?”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” She retorted drily as he banked left, smoothly rounding the bend of a building to land atop one of the rooftops. “Still, you think they’ll buckle? Or just try to ambush you when you return?”

“Hard to say-” He answered. “Gangsters like that live on their reputation. Caving to me is a sign of weakness, even if it would ultimately benefit them. We’ll have to wait and see… Still-”

“Hmm- What?” She asked.

Marching across the roof towards the pod that would carry his suit back to base, he made doubly sure no one was looking before he began to pull off the armored sections of his suit, starting with the gauntlets. “Missing kid.”

“You lost me-”

“The Yakuza Boss Goto, from what I heard they’re looking for a missing kid.” He answered, stuffing the gauntlets, then the boots a second later into the pod. “Midoriya and All Might found a missing kid just a few days ago.”

“... I’d say its just a coincidence but what are the odds of that?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged, pulling the helmet free. “But its something we’re gonna have to check on.”

(x)(x)(x)

I'M BACK!