I'm occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.
Here's the link:
Disc: HrPrTeam
I didn't take my pills today, so this is the result:
Enjoy, hopefully.
More to come, soon, NO LIE.
(Special thanks to QuilltedBear for the Beta Reading labor!)
-Story Start-
May 12th, 2234.
Noon.
It was the first hot day outside as summer was quickly approaching; the looming sun's harsh rays practically pressure-cooked the city of Musutafu, with the odd stray cloud offering the only occasional respite.
It was lunch break for most occupations; as such, the busy streets of Musutafu were abuzz with activity only rivaled by the morning rush.
Even in such busy times, one finds an opportunity to conduct their own, unique, definitely-not-obnoxious business.
Like this one individual and his cameraman:
Standing in front of the expensive lens, an energetic man with a rather expressive face, greeted with all the energy he could muster that stood out amongst the noise and buzz of the many passersby, "A beautiful, warm afternoon to all you Emojoy fans!" His face shifted from Happy Emoji to Excited Emoji - a byproduct of his quirk.
Withdrawing a 100-yen coin from his pocket, its metal exterior glinting in the sunlight, he announced, "Today we'll be doing the Take Or Double It For The Next Person! Let's see how high we can get and discover how benevolent our Musutafu citizenship really is?!"
Without further explanation, he quickly approached a fish-headed man whose head was strangely inside a bowl, clad in a rather expensive business suit, "Hello there, sir!" Greeted Emojoy as he extended the 100-yen coin to the stumped passerby, "Take this 100-yen coin or double it and pass it to the next person?"
The fish-headed man blinked for a moment at the sudden inquiry and coin thrown in his face, to which he shook his head with notable exasperation, "Double it and pass it on," he then chastised, "please be mindful of your manners, shoving a coin in anyone's face is disrespectful." With that said, the man had swiftly continued on his path to wherever.
Emojoy appeared unfazed, "Alright! Now we're on 200 yen, on to the next one! I'm betting we'll get to 3200 yen at least! Easily!" He optimistically stated with his face shifting into a smug emoji.
-------------------------------
Emojoy stood as charismatically obnoxious as always, in front of him a rather zombie-like employee from MightBurger, clad in both uniform, hat, and a stoic deadpan that betrayed no emotion.
"Afternoon, my hardworking and fashionable sir! A moment of your time?"
"Yes." The MightBurger employee responded dispondently.
Taking out two 100-yen coins from his pocket, Emojoy presented the dilemma, "Take the 200 yen or double it and pass it to the next person? What will you do?!"
Not even a moment of contemplation later, Emojoy's hand felt strangely empty, and he lowered his head to observe the outstretched hand that formerly held two coins to discover that it was now...
Suddenly empty.
"Thanks." The MightBurger employee casually expressed his gratitude and left.
His calm steps reverbrating even from a distance and among the busy streets, as his figure blended in with the sea of people.
Blinking rapidly, Emojoys's expression was an open-faced emoji of shock, to which he could only scratch his head, "Umm, didn't expect it to end so soon..." he readily admitted to swiftly shift gears as he turned to stare back at the camera, "Guess he's had it rough! No worries, we'll reach the 3200 yen goal soon, my dear fans!"
-------------------------------
The divine sanctum of processed meats had just reached the end of their rush hour, as most of the workers were taking a much-deserved break, with the occasional odd customer or two that arrived, who was being dealt with by the man on the register...
Who never seemed to truly tire.
One of his co-workers called out to him, his vision transfixed on the phone screen of his older co-worker with exceedingly long nails.
"Wow, Choso-senpai, you're... famous?" Izuku mentioned with a strained smile as his eyes darted from both the phone screen and Choso at the register.
"More like desperate." Iwasaki drawled out with a hint of dry amusement.
Choso made no effort to defend himself, as he retorted with a shrug, "200 yen is 200 yen." His eyes were laser-focused on the task at hand - another new-arrival customer.
"Hawk's Crispy Chicken Delight. I saw it in an ad, you still have those in stock?" It was a seemingly quirkless pair of mother and child.
Choso nodded with a thin line on his face, "That'll be 1500 yen. Cash or credit?" He stated as he tapped on the screen.
"Credit and thank you." The mother swiftly paid with her phone, about to turn around, only to pause at Choso's serious expression.
"Have a nice meal. Subscribe to Takada's YouTube Channel."
His eyes were deadly serious, disturbingly threatening, and quite literally sent a chill down her spine.
Sweatdropping slightly at the intensity of his gaze, demand, or threat, she couldn't make heads or tails of which was which. She nodded and scurried away, "O-Okay!" Her hand clasped tightly on her son's hand, whose innocent yet perplexed smile was a genuine sign that ignorance was truly bliss.
Nodding at gaining yet another happy customer and potential Takada supporter, Choso's head turned to be met with the curious look of Izuku, "Do you really actually like Takada-san?"
Noticing Choso's drilling gaze, Izuku began to sweat as he quickly flailed his arms in a placating gesture, "N-Not trying to offend or anything really! I just think you don't give off the impression of someone who would like idols. Not to sound judgmental! I know better than to judge people on their own appearance... recently I learned someone who appeared the paragon of strength was in actuality a skeleto-"
A sharp pain radiated across Izuku's cheek, as it began to redden from Choso's reverbrating gloved slap.
"Sorry."
Choso's tone was completely indifferent. "Quit apologizing. And no, I don't personally like Takada, nor do I dislike her... but if I had to choose, I probably like her more than dislike."
Tilting his head and blinking and utter confusion, Izuku inquired, "Which means...?"
"I like her because my little brother likes her. That is all." He nodded firmly with one of his rare tiny smiles.
Scratching his head, Izuku began to understand but inquired anyway, "Boss-san is very strict. Do you always promote Takada-chan like this?"
"Whenever I am at the register, yes."
Iwasaki approached and explained, "Rigid, stingy, shitty boss won't complain if Choso promotes or does anything really. He's the only one who can actually fix the ice cream machine. And work long hours... like, dying from overwork at the age of 25 kind of long hours."
She shrugged with a smirk as she lectured, pointing at Izuku with her nails, "The perks of being too important in your job."
Izuku's eyes widened as he absorbed the sheer wisdom, understanding crossing his features, "I see...!"
Note - he did, in fact, see.
He began to quickly scribble the divine 9-5 knowledge in his notes, notes that he somehow pulled out of literally nowhere - perhaps his unmanifested quirk.
As he did so, Izuku scratched his head with his pen, turning to Choso, "That reminds me! Do you have a Quirk that allows you to work such long hours? Barbery and longer shifts than both I and Iwasaki-san!" He then pointed at Choso's gloved hands, "I thought at first your quirk was poisonous blood, but maybe they have a property that is both toxic and allows you to work long hours-"
Once more, Izuku entered a rant-spiral that not even All Might could pull him out of.
"He's at it again." Iwasaki rolled her eyes with a slight endearment at her enthusiastic yet rather awkward nerdy junior.
To shut him up, Choso casually turned to Izuku and demonstrated, forming a tiny blood orb much to his shock, "My Quirk is Blood Manipulation. Form it to move things, create platforms, circulate it through my body to strengthen myself."
An epiphany appeared in Izuku's mind as his eyes practically glittered in wonder, "Now it makes sense! You can control the properties of your blood, PH level, and such, to make it toxic! That's an amazing Quirk!" He genuinely praised.
Choso ignored the praise in favor of reminding the two employees, as he retracted the blood orb, "Your breaktime's almost over, so you'll have to take over the register with Iwasaki again." Choso reminded.
Rolling her eyes, Iwasaki complained, "Getting that shift-manager position really got to your head, huh..." She waved her hand in slight disdain.
As she spoke, Choso's phone rang with the obnoxiously audible noise of Takada's newest song, which he answered with the utmost seriousness upon seeing the caller ID.
"Yes, Aoi?"
"We're out of eggs? I did notice, but you both like to pass by the supermarket on the way home from school." He mentioned.
"...Training session with our cousin and classmates? I see, in that case, you will be late then, I will head to the supermarket myself after the shift." He confirmed.
Choso's expression hardened as Aoi seemed to say something of dire importance, "...I understand, I'll be more careful to wipe my search history. You'll set me up with a VPN?"
A small smile and appreciative nod, "Thank you, little brother, that would be of great assistance."
A moment later, the call had ended with Choso's attention directed at the light tap on his shoulder.
"Choso-senpai, can I ask you a question?" Izuku inquired with a hesitant yet serious expression.
Noticing the slight shift in Izuku's tone, thanks to his interpersonal relationship training across the months, Choso nodded, "Yes."
Clutching his unnaturally shaking right hand, Izuku inquired, "If, hypothetically, you had a Quirk you couldn't control, each usage of it breaking your limbs due to the sheer amount of power it had... what would you do?"
Humming lightly, as he kept a thin line on his face, Choso recalled Izuku's interview, "You did mention wanting to take the Provisional Hero License Exams, is this related to your Quirk?"
Izuku nodded, "Yes. I can't control it, it has too much power." He admitted, "I've asked the advice of others, but it's still..." His head lowered as he gazed in utter frustration at his clenched fist.
Choso processed those words, as a few things suddenly clicked in his head.
"You missed two shifts last week, was it your Quirk?" Choso inquired more in-depth, as a responsible, totally not-self-interested shift manager.
Izuku had called in sick, now he was asking advice, only to get called out on last week's little blunder.
"N-No... yes it was." His shoulders sagged as he couldn't really lie about it, folding under zero pressure.
Choso's gaze was as indifferent as can be, yet to Izuku it felt like a titanic weight settled on his shoulders.
Nodding, Choso gave his two cents, "If it means you don't miss shifts that I have to cover... how does it usually feel when you use it?"
Choso was working with absolutely nothing here.
He had no clue about the inner workings of Quirks except surface knowledge and Aoi's occasional profound, immaculate lectures.
And the nuance of Quirk Usage?
That'd be his worst subject yet, given neither he nor his brothers wielded one.
Doesn't mean he couldn't wing it, of course.
Izuku sweatdropped and twisted in slight embarrassment as he remembered his only piece of advice he'd been working with, hesitantly mentioning, "Clench your butt and yell... SMASH! With all your might?"
Iwasaki deadpanned as she listened in from afar, settling in her spot near one of the two registers, "...Is your advice All Might P.E videos?"
Izuku didn't know his neck could bend so much as his head seemed to lower to oblivion, his voice weak, "...Yes."
Choso's face was a permanent deadpan, so his features remained unaffected by the total stupidity of Izuku's given advice.
Scratching his chin, Choso was about to give his advice, only to recall his own...
Teaching incompetence.
Nodding, he told Izuku, "Write in detail how your body feels when using your Quirk and as many details as you can, I'll give it to my little brother to see if he can offer some advice."
Izuku hesitated for a moment regarding how much he could actually convey, but nodded in gratitude, "I'll send it to you on the phone, thank you, Choso-senpai!"
"No problem. We'll decide on the price point later."
"I-I thought it was not missing shifts!"
"That is to be expected of an employee, and it's my little brother helping this time, not myself. His wisdom is expensive, and if he finds it necessary, he would need to test you."
"Test... how?"
...
Choso left wordlessly for the kitchen area to check up on the fry cook, his steps dramatically echoing in the fast food joint.
Leaving Izuku to linger along with Iwasaki on the register.
"TEST HOW?! CHOSO-SENPAI!" Izuku's desperate, fearful tone reverberated in the mostly empty establishment.
Poor sod.
Izuku truly had no one but himself to blame for thinking Choso was a reliable source of guidance.
But, desperate times always call for desperate measures.
-------------------------------
May 13th, 2234.
After Midnight.
Choso's phone flashed with the image of a rather generously sized building as he sat in the dark living room of the Brothers' Abode:
Mightceuticals.
An offshore pharmaceutical company that allegedly supplies most of the Trigger to the Yakuza's remnants and other dealers or groups.
The reason it was only 'alleged' was because it came from the mouth of a dealer himself.
Sure, the dealer's life was on the line, and a dealer's loyalty shouldn't amount to more than his life, but Choso took the information with a grain of salt and kept it as a lead.
The problem:
"It's far away..." Choso mentioned that he researched the headquarters from his reliable phone with a proper 'VPN,' whatever that was, and other measures were set up.
Mightceuticals is a competitor with Allceuticals, whilst the latter is better off in the richer and population-dense cities, Mightceuticals is better in supplying the less population-dense and poorer cities across Japan.
Their headquarters?
In Hiroshima.
While he could make a round-trip within less than a day, there's no knowing how long it'll take him to truly discover where the Trigger is coming from or where their true supplier is located.
Was it the whole company the issue?
Was it a front?
A single supply point or several?
Where does he strike?
Many questions, few answers.
And given Choso's very-busy 24-hour workdays, missing a day or two is quite the financial loss.
Choso contemplated aloud as he sat alone on the sofa, as his siblings slept, "But simply removing dirty criminals from the streets isn't enough..."
He must strike at the source, making a small difference in the Ghetto and surrounding areas was all good and well, but it wasn't enough, not nearly enough.
Indeed, what he desperately needed was...
"An informant." He confirmed to himself with a firm nod, his next course of action and choice was made.
Without further prompting, Choso headed to his secret closet to draw out his 'Work' clothes, his footsteps creaking rather audibly given the unstable flooring of the abode.
In fact, he knew just the place... probably.
One of the longest-standing semi-reliable buildings in the Ghetto.
The one left unscathed and highly regarded even by Aoi himself during his takeover in their early days in this god-forsaken place.
The Orphanage.
-------------------------------
The sky above Musutafu was an empty canvas of light pollution and a lacking Moon, given that it was in its New Moon phase.
Each of Choso's inhales was of a dry, musty air as he headed to his destination.
His steps reverbrating amid the deathly silent streets, a time of day when everyone in the Ghetto hides from danger, and Choso's lack of subtlety was the embodiment of it.
It was after a few good minutes of passing through knocked-out quirky people, or others who kept their heads down, that he arrived at his destination:
Surrounded on all sides by the rundown, dirty, semi-modern buildings signature of the Musutafu Ghetto was the courtyard of the Orphanage.
Open greenery, surrounded by a large electrical fence and the actual vintage building itself at the center.
Clearly, it appeared much more funded and well-kept than the surrounding Ghetto.
Arriving at the front gate guarded by a looming, bear heteromorph and armed man, Choso made no effort to sneak around.
"Quite late for a visit, I'm guessing you ain't here to adopt a kid? Even if you did, it is closing hours." The guard's tone was gruff and even, his hand tightly clutching the rifle in his hand.
"No, I need to speak with Jax."
Clicking his tongue, "If it ain't to adopt a kid from the orphanage or a part of Wash's Orphanage Charity, you'll have to wait for opening hours like every other visitor."
"That man owes my little brothers a favor, I'm banking on it in their name."
"Aoi-kun and Yuji-kun... you're their older brother?"
"Yes."
"...Run along, that old leech is in his office, third floor, big room, can't miss it. Just don't wake the kids."
"Okay." Nodding appreciatively, Choso walked past the guard, who let him in, entering the lush courtyard.
A paradise built in hell, managed by a very morally questionable yet just demon.
To Be Continued!
-Author Note Start-
The character named 'Jax' is completely fictional, and any reference to or similarity to a real person also coincidentally named or called 'Jax' is purely coincidental and unintended to offend.
On that note!
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH MY PILLSSSSSSSSSS ARE GONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.