The city had been restless lately. Kyushu, felt like it was becoming a pressure cooker. And it was angering Overhaul. Disruption was growing in waves to the intricate system Overhaul had spent years building.
Warehouses were burning down, stock was missing, his dealers were disappearing too, some leaving the city or at least trying to escape after they mismanaged product.
He stood in his office, gloved fingers tracing the edge of his pristine desk. The room was immaculate, as always—a sanctuary from the filth he loathed. The faint hum of the ventilation system barely masked the sound of distant rain tapping against the windows.
"Why are things going like this?" They were unseen but veins bulged in his hands,
Along with the growing disorder, it allowed for police and heroes to start getting entangled with city affairs. He's had to pull back on certain operations. 'This wasn't how it was supposed to be!'
Overhaul clenched his fists, feeling the smooth leather stretch over his knuckles. He'd dealt with weakness among subordinates. Failed ideals. The filth of this world encroaching on his vision. But this felt different, insidious, like a disease festering and growing.
He though that maybe a new villain was in town. But no names were coming to mind.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. Whispers had reached him about a new figure emerging in the underground fighting circuits. A good amount of money was being made there for him, he did own all the land these fights took place in after all.
But this new fighter had only appeared a few short days before the attacks began. Overhaul didn't believe in coincidences. Someone like that wouldn't appear without reason.
He tapped his fingers on his desk, the rhythmic sounds calming his thoughts. He's recruited from there before with Rappa and Tengai, and he wanted that to be the last time even though it was at least two years since then.
Recruiting from such a volatile environment wasn't his style, it wasn't smart. But these circumstances demand flexibility. If the fighter had potential he could be useful in safeguarding purposes for the transition.
Overhaul had planned to move his base of operations since more heroes were crowding around the area. He couldn't afford to let anything slip through the growing cracks.
Later that evening, he sat across from the masked fighter. Kobe Arakawa.
Calm under pressure. He noted. Kobe answered Nemoto's questions with surprising composure. Most would crumble, their secrets would spill out like an open wound. But this one resisted, could resist, if only slightly.
Not invulnerable, but impressive.
Overhaul looked at the mask Kobe wore, it was simple and functional. It spoke of someone who valued efficiency over vanity. 'That could be useful.'
"Why are you in this city?" Nemoto asked, his tone was heavy and suspicious, as it should be.
Overhaul's golden eyes flickered with a faint amusement, watching the darker skinned boy answer.
"For money." Kobe said in an even tone.
Money. Overhaul's lips twitched in the barest hint of disdain. Everyone wanted money. But that was fine, it just made it easier to work with him.
"And where are you from?" Overhaul asked him, leaning forward slightly.
"Musutafu, in the Shizuoka Prefecture."
Overhaul's brow raised ever so slightly. Musutafu, the city carried weight. Heroes, UA high, the birthplace of legends. It was like a natural breeding ground for them.
"Musutafu," he repeated, his tone was sharp. "A hub for heroes. People who think they can rewrite the laws of the world with brute force, and here you are. Somehow you didn't fall into that crowd."
Silence followed, stretching long and thin. Overhaul didn't rush. He savoured moments like this, letting the pressure build up. The slightest shift in body language revealed volumes, but Kobe didn't falter, which on it's own told him enough.
Then came the last question... he was sure the knew of him. He had let him win his fights in the city long enough now, so he should know of who he is and how he is the one to run things...
"Have you been messing with my product in this city?" His voice dropped, each word measured and sharp as a scalpel.
The kid tilted his head slightly,
"If it's causing you problems, it's got nothing to do with me. All I've done here is related to me and earning."
It was ambiguous, but it was still under Nemoto's quirk and Overhaul trusted that. The boy's tone was devoid of hostility. Overhaul's brow furrowed, dissatisfaction creeping in. The answer was true, but it's vagueness grated on him.
He could ask again...
"If you're lying to me, I'll find out. And you'll suffer a fate worse than death."
"I'd expect nothing less."
___
The sound of my shoes echoed faintly as I followed Overhaul through the faint light tunnels of the Yakuza's base. The air down here was thick, almost sterile, as though he sanitized every molecule down here himself. Walls of polished and clean concrete loomed on either side, blank and featureless, except for the occasional metal door.
There was a stillness to it. One that reminded me of the cold facility I was trapped in.
Overhaul walked with a measured, clinical pace, hands lazily hanging on each side of him. He hasn't said anything since the little interview we had earlier, but his presence was loud enough. It pressed against me.
I had kept my mask on grateful for the anonymity it granted. He hadn't insisted I take it off yet, which meant he was still feeling me out. Good. That worked in my favour.
"This is the foundation of what we've built," Overhaul began, his voice was cool and deliberate. "It may not look like much, but efficiency doesn't need aesthetics."
I glanced around, letting my eyes linger on the stark corridors, the lighting, the breeze of electricity in the air. No wasted space here, no decorations.
Just like him.
We stopped in front of a reinforced, steel door, and Overhaul pulled a key from his pocket. The lock clicked open with a heavy sound that reverberated through the hallway. He stepped inside, gesturing for me to follow.
The room was grotesque. Cages lined the walls, each housing creatures that didn't look like they should have existed in this world. One had a wolf-like animal with feathered wings; another contained a snake with legs that resembled a lizard. They shifted and moved, restlessly, their eyes glowing faintly under the harsh light.
"This," Overhaul said, gesturing to the room. "is a demonstration of my potential."
I forced myself to remain still. I didn't let it show, easier with the mask on.
"These creatures," he continued, "are the result of combining traits at a molecular level. My quirk allows me to disassemble and reassemble matter at will. This includes living beings."
'Dangerous.'
He walked over to one of the cages, pulling back tarp to reveal a figure slumped inside. My initial thought was that they were someone with a mutant quirk—a human with cat like features— But the longer I looked, the more I realized how wrong I was.
"This one," Overhaul said, his voice was deep and cold. "Was one of my subordinates. He failed me, so I gave him a new purpose."
The figure stirred slightly, it's feline eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. It let out a guttural cat's cry in a growl of a human tone.
"To make it easier for me, I wear down the mind during the process," Overhaul began explaining. "what remains when I merge human and animal then is the primal instinct, overlaid with a fragment of their original consciousness. Useful in some ways, but limited. A reminder of what happens when you mess up in this family."
I didn't say anything, I didn't react. It was disgusting, mortifying and even gave me second thoughts about this place the thought of running away.
"This," Overhaul turned back to me, "is why I need someone competent. Someone who won't fail. Everyone get's two strikes and their out."
He gestured for me to follow again, leading me out of the room and into another corridor. My pulse quickened as we walked, the memory of that...still fresh in my mind.
Eventually, we reached another door. This one less imposing, but the air around it felt heavier. Overhaul opened it without hesitation, and I stepped inside.
The room was sparse, almost clinical. A single bed in the corner, it's sheets neatly folded. The walls were bare, save for a few cracks that stretched out like veins. And in the center of the room, curled up on the floor, was a small girl with a little horn on her head.
She looked up as we entered, her wide, frightened eyes locking on to Overhaul immediately. She didn't move, didn't speak. She just trembled, her hands clutching the hem of her dress like it was the only thing keeping her grounded.
"This," Overhaul said with a softer and indifferent voice now. "is what you'll be safeguarding."
I didn't respond yet, my eyes were fixed on her, on the way she flinched at every movement he made, the way her hole body seemed to shrink in on itself.
The room felt heavier now. I looked away from the child, I focused on the details instead—the reinforced locks on the door, the hidden cameras in the corner, the faint scent of anti-septic in the air.
Overhaul turned to me, his golden eyes piercing through the dim light. "Take off your mask," he said.
I reached slowly, undoing the paper mask, and letting it fall away into nothingness.
For a moment he said nothing. Just standing there studying me, with the same calculating gaze.
"This is your chance," he said firmly. "Prove yourself useful and you'll find your place here. Fail... and you'll suffer."
He didn't need to specify on how, I nodded once and the mask slipped back into place.
He started to leave, "Get to know Eri. If you want to leave or I call you up, just press the green buzzer, it will open the door for you."
The buzzer was high up on the wall, I could reach it, but the child at my back certainly couldn't.
Eri. That was the frightened child's name.
***
The door clicked shut behind Overhaul, leaving me alone in the sterile room with the trembling girl. Her fragile form seemed even smaller against the empty expanse of the space. Eri. Her name echoed in my mind as I glanced at the green buzzer high up on the wall.
I crouched low, careful not to make any sudden movements and kept my tone low, no doubt the room was hooked with listening devices. I took of my mask. "Eri, right?"
She didn't respond, only shrank further into herself. Her small hands clung tightly to the fabric of her dress which I could tell was supposed to be white.
"I'm not here to hurt you," I tried again, though the words felt hollow, even for me. How many times had she heard a lie disguised as reassurance?
I sat cross-legged on the cold floor, making myself seem smaller, less imposing. Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. Her ruby coloured eyes watched me with fear, like a cornered animal.
The weight of the room pressed down harder, and I couldn't keep my mind from wandering. How long had she been kept here? How many other's had passed through those doors to shatter the fragile trust she had left?
I leaned back on the wall, my gaze flickering to the cracks out across the ceiling, I could see a deep burgundy colour in some of the cracks, 'was that blood?'
I looked back at the kid who didn't take her eyes off of me.
"Do you want me to stay quiet?" I asked softly, not expecting an answer.
To my surprise she gave the feintest of nods, almost imperceptible. I respected it, leaning my head back and letting the silence reclaim the room.
It could be a start.