Izuku on the Rise {Discontinued}

Chapter 8: Nobody

"Fuckin' hell." he cursed but didn't put any real heart in it. His cigarette hung limply in one side of his mouth, the lighter spluttering out pathetic glints that died quickly. He tried getting the thing to work - just in case, you know? - but, no matter how many times he clicked on the mechanism, nothing much happened other than bringing forth more of the aforementioned sparks.

Shaking his head, he resorted to heading to a konbini later on. For now, he'd have to live without comforting smoke filling up his lungs to stop the thoughts heading his way. To that bastard. He clenched his teeth hard at the mere memory of him.

"Muchi-san?" a neutral voice asked. It came out of thin air and had no visible owner. He knew it'd be coming but it still took him by surprise. It's the instincts, one can't help it. They made him tense up and revert to his fighting stance before the voice breathed out a laugh and it made click. This had to be Dare Mo. Nobody at all.

Muchi Jaku forced himself to relax. His mouth shrunk to its normal size and when it wasn't a gaping hole any longer, he hesitantly spoke up: "Yes? Are you Dare Mo?" Damn, it was disconcerting to talk to someone who had no presence. Most people with invisibility quirks had warmth or smell or something to offer that made them stand out from unoccupied space. Dare Mo didn't. Dare Mo truly lived up to their street name. They were nothing. One could only notice them through their directionless words.

(Jaku thought briefly about leading such a life - completely apart from everyone else. What a shoddy existence that'd be, he thought.)

"That I am." the voice spoke again, drifting wobbly into different directions as it did so. In the beginning, Jaku heard it to his left; in the middle it was to his right and at the end it hovered above him. A shudder ran down his spine at the sensation the voice left as it hung in the atmosphere without truly sticking.

"Good" Jaku said (to reassure himself - it was a good thing that he'd been granted an audience with the infamous Dare Mo... it had to be), "I need you to-"

"My prices are high, Muchi-san." they interrupted nonchalantly, "That you should know before you state your request."

"I..." Jaku swallowed, firming his stance, "I know you aren't cheap. But I also know you're the best and stealthiest in your field. No matter the price, I'm willing to pay if you... if you end his career."

"Very well then, Muchi-san. I think for this instance five hundred thousand yen will do." Dare Mo whispered into his right, left, right, left ear, leaving nausea behind them.

"Fi...Five-hundred thousand?! ...Well. Alright. If it ensures his downfall, then yes, I'll pay the sum." he meekly agreed.

Jaku breathed out in a shudder as that thing - that was no human - whispered just behind him: "Half of it now and the other half when it's done, Mu-"

It came now from under him: "-chi-"

And then it ended in his face: "-san"

"O...okay." He was prepared for this. Giran had told him as much ("Don't come with anything under three-hundred grand. DM's gonna pull your whole bank account apart, not gonna lie.") and he'd taken it seriously. Simply hadn't dared not to heed to the broker's words.

The fact alone that he had to resort to such measures - to book an appointment with one of the most mysterious vigilantes (or did they already count as a villain?) - was incredibly humbling in a sense. This was not Jaku's world. In fact, it was the opposite.

But it could become it if his ratings dropped even further. There was no doubt about it. He'd vanish from the media. Well, first there'd be the reduction of price on his few pieces of merchandise. Then there'd be the drop in the popularity polls; and he'd only been able to reach number 210 in his five year long career. He was already a face among many. A hero nobody would recall in a few years. Maybe some diehard fans would recognize his name but they'd probably not really remember any of his feats. (He'd always tried his best. Whenever the big names would destroy local businesses that couldn't afford the high Villain Destruction Insurance, he was the first one offering a hand in rebuilding them for a couple of bucks, sometimes even for free.)