Chapter 10: CHAPTER 009(Negotiations Pt.3)
Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story.
Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk
pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene
CHAPTER START---
"Hero?" Law couldn't quite wrap his mind around the absurdity and stupidity of that idea. "You want me to go to UA and become a hero?"
"Precisely," Nezu nods enthusiastically, "starting next year, this school year... let's just say things aren't right just yet."
"Why not just get me a Pro-Hero license now so I can start working off their sentence?" Law asks, "you know I'm already more capable than most heroes in Japan, just let me get to it."
"Unfortunately the Japanese constitution and hero regulations forbid that, plus you're only..."
"Fifteen," Law says.
"Exactly," although the truth was that Nezu wanted to force Law into a hero-centric environment alongside other young heroes for as long as possible, hoping that they rub off on him, but he would never say that. "And besides, if you are as good as you think then graduating UA shouldn't be an issue for you."
"It won't be," Law declares, "but it is a waste of time."
Nezu chuckles, "you'll find that every year there are exceptional prodigies, I'm sure you'll be able to find worthy competition, in fact, I guarantee you will."
"I doubt that," Law says. "But obviously you won't budge on this term, right?"
"Right."
"Sigh... so I heal your friend, attend UA, and how much can I get their sentence reduced?"
"If you perform well enough it could be entirely," Law perks up at that. "But we can discuss that at your graduation, and every year afterward. Until then they will remain exactly where they are."
"And they won't be executed before that? I know that super high priority people like my parents are kept isolated, I need some guarantee that this isn't all for nothing," Law says.
"You have my word, so long as you uphold your part of the contract, I will uphold mine," Nezu nods.
Law sighs, "mom taught me how sacred contracts are, contracts and my family are all that matter to me, I never agree to a contract I can't fulfill, and I never break a contract. I also don't renegotiate the terms of any contract I agree to, even if the job turns out to be a lot tougher than expected, it's on me to do the research after all."
"That's good, a strong sense of family and honor, even if the work you did was...less than clean, I can respect your work ethic and how professional you kept yourself," Nezu says.
"I'm fully aware of how the world views us," Law sits back in his chair and stares at Nezu for a long while, then he sighs, then speaks. "Before I agree to anything, I've got some specific terms," he looks to the mirror, as if he could see Tsukauchi standing there. "I need to discuss them with you, only you."
"I see," Nezu narrows his eyes slightly. "And I can trust that you won't try anything harmful or deceitful when I order him to leave?"
"Of course I won't, I just want as few people as possible to know my business."
"Detective?" Nezu asks.
"He's not lying," Tsukauchi says through the earpiece, "but that doesn't mean I'm comfortable with this."
"Leave us detective," Nezu says. "I trust him..."
After Law senses Tsukauchi leaving he nods to Nezu. The Mouse-bear removes his earpiece and sets it down on the table, turning it off.
"Alright, what are these terms you want to discuss?" Nezu asks.
"My face, and information about my family."
"The police and government weren't able to recover anything at all. All documents were burned in the fire your father started, all systems were wiped clean, they can't even find the legal names you three were operating under, Law..." Nezu says.
Law narrows his eyes at that, "I'm guessing you don't include yourself in police or government?"
"I'm an educator and consultant," Nezu says. "With the way you three operate I fully expected you to be concerned about this, when I realized I needed you I assumed it would give me good bargaining power, which it clearly does."
"Does anyone else know?" Law asks.
"No," Nezu doesn't hesitate to answer, having Law all figured out by now he knew he was safe, after all, he's the only hope Law has of saving his parents. And his parents are most important to him, followed closely by his ego.
"Then let's keep it that way," Law says.
"What do you mean?"
"If you could wave your hand and make a full pardon appear, I'm assuming you can make an ID and medical license or two appear, right?"
"If I wanted to, of course," Nezu was very intrigued by this suggestion. "What do you have in mind?"
"I don't want my face being a hero, especially not at UA. Putting my face and Quirk in the spotlight is just inviting villains to pay my family a visit in the future, when I start my own family specifically."
"I see," Nezu strokes his chin, "most people don't consider that since being a hero means being a celebrity."
"Most people are morons who don't think a step past themselves, especially teenagers," Law says, a new harshness in his tone.
"You disapprove of that?"
"Obviously," Law scoffs. "I think they're selfish, arrogant, careless, and lack any sense of accountability if anything does happen, it's disgusting. Can't expect villains to follow the rules, so the last thing I want is to head back home from patrol and find my house turned to ash while my family was inside."
Nezu taps his chin, 'so every thought goes into protecting his future or current family...' he thinks to himself.
"Understandable, I can have new identification created for your personal and hero use, including a mask."
"Perfect."
"And about the medical licenses, I'd have to review some of the medical notes in your father's files, but from what I saw on the drive here, I don't think a medical license for each identity is beyond reason, prodigies exist, more so than ever since the advent of Quirks."
"Good," Law says. "I just need my hero and personal life as separate as possible, that's very important to me."
"So then we have an agreement?" Nezu asks.
"On the day of the surgery, or whatever it is your friend needs, if you've got everything by then yeah I'll play hero for you, anything to fix what I did."
"What you did?" Nezu was suddenly very curious by this choice of words.
"Sigh, I guess it doesn't really matter since you have all the dirt on me," Law shrugs. "I chose that job, first one I've ever picked and it turned out to be a trap, I fucked us..."
Nezu shakes his head, realizing that they'd both been so focused on the future that they never even discussed what happened, deciding to take a risk, he tells the truth.
"It wasn't your fault," Nezu says, causing Law's eyes to snap to him. "There have been teams tracking her for nearly two decades, since before you were born. We finally had enough info to narrow down her pattern. For the past year, all her jobs have been tracked and some were even provided by us to get rid of certain undesirable people, to let the bait sink in."
"What?" Law was amazed that they never noticed, but not completely surprised since Nezu's intellect is beyond even a complex supercomputer, many of which he personally designs and sells to major governments.
"Any job of the three dozen she would have chosen would have been the same trap, she taught you well, she always chose the perfect job, we just figured out how to appear like the perfect job. So if you're going to be mad at anyone, to hate anyone, it should be me," Nezu says.
Law doesn't even hesitate to slouch down in his chair and shake his head, "no, you did your job well, I'm the one who failed. I fucked up so badly that I destroyed my family, maybe got them killed, and I'm guessing all our accounts are gone too?"
Nezu nods.
"Fuck," Law rubs a hand down his face. "The only person to blame is me, they trained me to be my best self. I've trained so hard to be perfect, and I ruined everything. I saw her get hurt and I didn't even think to check for feathers, this is all on me. Responsibility and accountability, right, that's why I'm the only one who I should hate for this."
Nezu sighs, "do you have a safehouse remaining?"
"Of course, all our assets weren't digital, just ninety percent..."
"Good, I'm sure you want some time to process this," Nezu takes one of the documents out from his stack and slides it over, face down. "This is the only one I printed, the other personal files are here," he places a phone on the table.
"And a tracker I can't get rid of..."
"Naturally," Nezu says, gesturing to the phone. "But from what I can tell, you and I will work very well together, be ready for my call, Law."
"Thank you," Law says, suddenly feeling very tired as he feels the meeting ending, the adrenaline and anxiety cocktail that was keeping him going is finally wearing off.
"I'll contact you when I have everything ready," Nezu hops off his chair, takes the remaining documents, including the unsigned contract, and begins walking to the door. "You can get yourself out of here, right?" he asks playfully.
"I'll be fine, principal," Law groans at the word, already knowing this was going to be a long journey.
With that Nezu nods and exits the room, shutting the door behind him.
Law takes a deep breath, feeling exhaustion seeping into his bones. "Fuck me..." he groans, taking the picture from the table as well as the phone. "Shambles..."
He disappears, swapping places with a few raindrops from outside...
END CHAPTER---
pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene
Chapter 11: CHAPTER 010(The Plan)
Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story.
Discord: https://discord.gg/K7f8qGpvuk
pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene
CHAPTER START---
Law stands in the shower, warm water flowing down his body, watching blood and water rush past his feet and rush down the drain.
He sighs, feeling his bones ache, the stress and constant worry of his body slowly fading away under the water.
After a short shower, he makes sure to get the dried blood out of his hair before drying off and stepping out of the glass shower.
Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, palms flat on the sink, he can see the exhaustion in his own white-blue eyes.
His hair was short and messy, with not a single scar or scratch on his muscular but lean body.
He cracks a smile, the chiseled features of his face giving a wolfish, predatory appearance.
"Not a scratch on me," he lifts a hand and feels his neck. Along with where the feathers had burrowed through his legs, they were perfectly healed, with no evidence of ever being injured.
"Hawks, number three hero," Law scoffs and begins walking toward the bedroom, "what a fucking joke, couldn't even last a minute with me in a real fight."
Entering the bedroom he walks toward the bed, the simple and small one-bedroom apartment, one his family had hidden away just outside of Tokyo that was made for times like this. In case they were ever fully compromised, with no access to their accounts or contacts, all alone with a bag of clothes and cash.
Located on the third floor of this five-story building it provides no real security, but nobody would look for him here.
He gets dressed in a pair of black sweatpants, leaving his shirt off as he takes out a laptop from his duffel bag.
Sitting against the backboard of the bed with the laptop on his lap and the bag beside him, he takes another look through the phone Nezu gave him, the camera already torn out.
"One contact and my family files," he says while scrolling through the few pictures he had. Only a couple dozen pictures of them on the rare outings over the years.
Looking past his feet he sees the full body-length mirror not far away, he scowls at himself then begins typing on the laptop.
"Shit..." he mutters, reports of Arsenal and The Heart Thief being captured by Hawks are already on news websites. He checks international news sites, and only sees more of the same.
Two international villains brought down by a young top-rated hero in Japan...they couldn't get the stories out fast enough.
"No real names, or faces, or extra information. Just a basic headline, and apparently Arsenal killed three heroes in the raid," Law shakes his head. "Nezu really did pull all the strings to make this happen."
Law considers Nezu's position once more, "the most influential person on the planet outside of world leaders," he thinks aloud. "If I were Nezu, I designed defense systems and infrastructure for countries and people across the world. I built supercomputers that are nearly comparable to my own brain, I contributed more to hero society and the education of heroes than anyone else in history...I poured almost all of my money into helping heroes across the globe."
Law sets the computer aside and brings up one of his knees, resting his arm on it.
"If I'm Nezu...I can lock anyone away, or get anyone out, after the public forgets them ofcourse," Law nods to himself. "If he keeps his word this will be easy, but how do I make sure he doesn't stab me in the back, I'm just another hero-killing villain to him..."
Law holds his head for a minute, wracking his brain trying to think of a solution.
"Never break a contract," he says to himself. "So I can't hold the patient hostage..."
"I don't alter contracts," he groans. "So I can't re-negotiate if it changes, that means I'm in this for at least four years until I graduate," he moves the laptop aside and leans forward.
"Four damn years," he rummages around in the duffel bag and fishes out the picture Nezu brought him.
Taking out the picture he gently passes a hand over the paper, as if trying to feel that familiar warmth from it.
A picture of them on what looks to be an isolated beach area, him being only nine years old in the photo. Sitting beside his surfboard with both his parents beside him, their boards stood behind them. A popsicle in his hand just like them, all happily enjoying a summer day together.
He can't help but smile, feeling sadness beginning to take over, tears almost ready to begin flowing down his face.
As he feels the dam about the burst, however...
"Are you fucking crying?" His own disgusted voice ridicules him.
Law's eyes lazily drift up to look at the mirror, still sitting on the bed, leaning against the backboard, yet his reflection is standing in the mirror, pacing side to side in the room.
It stops, and stares directly at him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" it asks, shaking its head in disapproval. "We aren't some weak sniveling pussy who cries about his problems. We don't waste our time in our own head thinking in circles like some useless impotent fuck! We get active and go solve the problem!"
Law takes a deep breath, and the dam is reinforced, suddenly feeling much calmer and more steady.
"That's right," the reflection nods. "None of that crap, we were raised and trained to be perfect. We can solve this, I know what you have to do," the reflection points at him, "that means you know exactly what you have to do..."
Law sighs, closes his eyes, and leans his head against the backboard, releasing a frustrated and annoyed groan.
"I know, it'll suck, but we've gotta do this. Nezu wants a hero, so we'll give him a fucking superhero. Someone Japan suddenly can't live without because we're just that much better than the cape and spandex morons."
The reflection opens its arms wide as if a crowd was cheering for him," we'll have them begging us, all those useless, nameless, faceless, pathetic, stupid, fucks! All those damn ants that can't fend for themselves or crawl themselves out of a burning building without some retard in spandex and a cape coming to hold their hand. We'll have them groveling at our feet, where they're meant to be. They'll want to build a monument to the sky with our name on it, and do you know why?"
Law nods, a smirk growing on his lips.
"That's right," the reflection chuckles, "Because we're just better than all those morons playing the hero-villain game. Better Quirk, better training, better in every way. They're trying to chase our backs, so desperate to catch up while running with no legs, while we're on the horizon, and once everyone sees how much better we are, they'll understand that they need us, and we don't need them."
Law smiles at that.
The reflection nods, "and they will give us whatever we want. They'll give us whoever we want back."
A serious look dominates Law's face as his eyes harden, brows furrowed.
"That's right," the reflection says, standing proud to look at Law who was still sitting on the bed. "Once they see how superior we are, our family will be back together again, our mistake will be fixed. We destroyed our family, we made the mistake, and this is how we fix it, even if it kills us."
Law nods.
"And when we're all back together, we'll make sure they never have to worry about a thing again," the reflection gives him a sad smile. "We owe them that much, it's the least we could do."
Law runs a hand through his hair at the thought of that.
"Hey hey," the reflection says in a soothing voice, "everyone wants a miracle, and that's exactly what we are. People all around the world will be dropping to their knees to suck us off, we just need to make the most of it, and we've got a whole year to do it before we have to go to that fucking circus Nezu runs."
Law takes a deep breath and then picks up the phone.
"That's right," the reflection says. "Call Nezu and tell him what we need, he wants us to be a hero. We'll be a super fucking hero, so good that everyone else looks like the trash they are, and when everyone sees our value, when they all need us, they see that we're a god, that we're above them, when we show them...yeah, when we've done that---"
Law smiles broadly, and a slight chuckle escapes his lips, "then we can do whatever we want..."
END CHAPTER---
pat.reon (5 Chapters ahead): Keanu_Eugene
0_0
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
268 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment