What was the saying about repeating the same process? It's a definition of madness?
Then there's the philosophy of improvement. It involves consistently evaluating one's actions and processes and making changes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and outcomes. For a while, Sakura wasn't sure which category she fell into, as she attempted to grasp this hidden power in her. Well, perhaps using the term 'hers' wasn't correct. But that didn't mean she couldn't struggle to attain it and tame it through her own efforts.
Through meditation and reaching the point of exhaustion, Sakura could just about touch on that power.
But it was like putting her hand into a flame, all instincts telling her to pull back and though it only felt like a second, she would already be burnt.
Sakura's breath fogged up in front of her as she stood at the peak of the mountain, under the stars and icy air. Which she hardly felt due to being lost in focus on the task at hand. Several weeks this had been her routine.
Sakura had been sequestered away in the mountains, training harder than she ever had before. Through all her efforts, trials, and error, she was finally able to get a glimpse of the results she needed. Now if she could just continue to progress. She might yet find a ray of hope.
Sakura closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She felt it creeping through her veins, a spark that flickered but went out almost instantly.
When her chest tightened to the point where it was like a fist in her heart, Sakura was forced to stop. She laid on her back with her vision blurring to the sky, wanting to let tears fall but nothing escaped her eyes.
'I'm close,'
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For an interloper, who was used to dirt roads, and simple clay stacked homes, Tokyo was like a diamond under the light. With its towering skyscrapers and bustling streets filled with neon lights that captured the hearts of tourists and locals alike.
But tonight Sakura wasn't interested in the scenery as much as the hidden underbelly of it all. Through back alleys, where the lights barely reached, there was a typical gathering of crowds in the building's basement that had been transformed into the fighting arena for her next match.
Since leaving the hero stage, Sakura had been spending more time as her alter ego, Nemesis. Taking to the underground when she wasn't training in the mountains. For the sake of financial stability, she needed to do something that wouldn't let her resort to stealing. She could pull it off though, but crime rates were rising enough without her assistance.
And it was also the best way to search for the League of villains, information trickled in but they were still a strong topic. And it gave her an outlet.
Sakura watched her opponent fall into unconsciousness, and she smiled behind her mask. The match took less than three seconds and the crowds were roaring, some demanding more blood but she didn't bow to the demands of the audience.
Her only role now was the collect her reward.
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The reward money weighed heavily in her pockets, even making some noise to her usually quiet steps. She walked down the dimly lit hallway, about to hit the exit when a familiar voice called out to her.
"Well, look who it is," Rappa appeared like a ghost from the shadows, his huge form blocking her path, and a rather wide girn that apepared wicked under the light. "Finally came back after all this time, where you been Nemesis?"
Her eyes narrowed through her mask, as she looked at the man who had fought with the intent to kill in the ring. But she showed no signs of animosity. However she made it clear that she wouldn't entertain a conversation. "What do you want?"
Fortunately Rappa didn't appear to enjoy wasting time either, "There's someone who wants to meet you, and I was asked to bring you in for recruitment,"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, "I'm not interested,"
This wasn't the first time Nemesis has been offered to do jobs for certain clientele that frequented the fighting pits, but she turned them down every time. While they wouldn't get passed the introductory stage, Sakura knew they likely weren't intending to wield her talents for anything good.
Rappa held up his hand. "I'm not making the offer, that pitch is up to the guy who wants to bring you in,"
"And who would that be?"
"A while back, I fought against someone in the ring and I lost to him," Rappa explained. This surprised Sakura because Rappa was quite powerful and fast. Against her, he couldn't contend but she was far from the average fighter and he was a reigning champion in the underground ring until she came along and earned the title.
"Have you ever heard of the yakuza, Shie Hassaikai?"
Sakura frowned, "No,"
"Well the boss is looking to meet you, and sent me out here to give you the invite, that's all," He held out a card with a number on it but Sakura turned her head.
"As I said, I'm not interested,"
"You sure? I heard some big leads are coming out for them. A couple of days ago we nearly had a takedown with the League of Villains,"
Sakura's mind raced. "What? You went against the league?"
"Not really it was just Overhaul, things stopped before they could get fun. Anyway, that's all." Sakura called after him to stop, but he just told her that if she wanted to hear more she could meet the ring leader.
Sakura stared at the card, with the symbol on it.
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The wind brushed against her skin. Sakura looked up at the nights starry sky as she lay out on the veranda. Outside the house, the silence was only broken by the rustling of leaves and the occasional hoot of an owl.
The porch light above the front door gave a warm glow over the planks beneath it, as they creaked under Sakura, as she inhaled the scent of wet grass.
She held onto the card Kendo Rappa had given her, resting the hand on her chest.
When she left, Sakura immediately started looking for information on this yakuza group and called in Giran to give her more intel. Sakura learned that the Yakuza were Japanese organized crime syndicates but most were not criminally active anymore, having lost a lot of the influence over the years due to the system of heroes. Especially after All Might had come onto the scene. But there were still a few around, although they were on the verge of extinction.
But what were they doing looking for recruits now? Was this just another result of the stirring in society that had been caused by the loss of All Might and All For One?
If the League of Villains wasn't mentioned, Sakura would've already thrown the card away.
In the end, Sakura took her burner and dialed the number.
"This is Nemesis,"
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Shie Hassaikai. It was astounding, what information Sakura was able to pull before the meeting regarding this group. They had become one of the most active yakuza organizations since All Might's retirement. But Sakura was yet to discover their goals and their connection to the League of Villains.
When she called the number, she was given clear instructions on where she needed to be at a certain time of day.
Sakura was alone at first, fully disguised as Nemesis, waiting under a bridge near the city. She listened to the sound of the water running softly. For a few minutes that's all she could hear before she finally felt a new presence.
"Nemesis," The voice that called to her was almost muffled like it was bouncing back, and Sakura figured out why. A mask that extended out like a bird's beak. Sakura didn't know it was referred to as a plague mask.
"The boss is waiting for you."
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Following the masked individual, Sakura was taken to an underground network of tunnels that she had to walk around through for almost thirty minutes. The reason was likely to throw off anyone who might attempt to find the main base of the yakuza. Just like a maze. Not a likely trap for her to fall into however, as Sakura memorized her path until she reached the reception room. Where she felt she might be in for a very un-warm welcome.
The room was simple in design, with wall art of the Shie Hassaikai symbol painted and two couches with a shouji board set between. There was a man sitting with two other masked people standing behind him.
"Welcome Nemesis,"
Sakura could pick out the leader instantly. Kai Chissaki, aka Overhaul. She didn't see Rappa in the mix though.
"Overhaul,"
"Yes," Chisaki Kai confirmed gesturing for her to take a seat on the other couch. "Let's cut to the chase,"
Sakura nodded, "I heard you've been looking for me to apparently join your organization. Before getting into that, I want the pitch,"
If the League of Villains were involved, she would rather they admit it themselves than making her dig for the answer. But that was still on the table, if things took a turn for the hardway.
"Show some respect, boy," Warned one of his henchman, his voice harsh behind the mask. From the way he spoke, Sakura deduced that he might be an underling with more power than most.
"I just want to insure my talents aren't about to be wasted,"
"Why you little-
Another one of the masked figures stepped forward, but Kai held up his hand to silence any protests.
"It's only fair, that you understand what our intentions are," Digging into his pockets Kai pulled out a small cylindrical shaped object with a small needle sticking out.
"And that is?"
"The key to curing the disease we call quirks,"
Naturally as she was still an outsider, Kai didn't detail much of his plans but gave a brief outline of what he wanted to accomplish. The nutshell, they were working to manufacture and distribute these bullets that were able to destroy a persons quirk. For anyone in this world, that would be a huge revelation but for Sakura it was just another tidbit of information that may be completely useless.
"Why do you want to do that? Is it just for weaponizing?"
"It's so much more than that," Kai now had a peculiar gleam in his eyes when he spoke. "I am looking to fix societies sickness,"
"Is this sickness you're referring to quirks?"
Kai extends his hand, but it does not reach for her, "This world existed before quirks, everything had its rightful place, including Shie Hassaikai. It will be the greatest movement of the underworld, and I'm offering you a place to witness that, a place where you can reap benefits,"
It was a horrifying notion, she could confess. To be able to take away someone's quirk like All for One and have that ability stocked neatly in a little syringe was groundbreaking in its own right. If only it were a hero learning about this drug instead of an interloper like her.
"How are you able to create these bullets?"
"Manufacturing process is not your concern, but we need more distributors in order to expand, and more muscle. Heroes have been sniffing around recently, that's to be expected with our recent distributions but should things take a turn and we have any confrontation, it would be beneficial to have someone like you around,"
There was clearly so much more to this plan as well, quirk destroying bullets would be a great danger to heroes and society. It would uproot the entire worlds way of life.
With all of this, Kai still didn't bring up the League of Villains yet. What was their involvement with this group?
'Guess I gotta ask,'
Sakura was about to open her mouth to voice her question, but then someone came rushing into the room, nearly slamming the door off its hinges and even behind a mask, the panic was evident.
"Boss! She got out!"
"What?" Now it was Kai's demeanour that cracked.
"I looked away for a second, but I'm sure she's close around the area!"
Kai's shoulder's tensed, he stood up, dashing for the door. He didn't even look back, every ounce of attention diverted. "I have some business to take care of,"
Who got out? The sentence made Sakura's gut scream in alarm. Was he holding someone captive?
"Get all available bodies down here now and find her!"
Kai seemed prepared to tear down the walls, but then one of his men called in alert, "I see her, she went down this way!"
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It was perhaps compelling curiosity that had taken Sakura out of that room, and following after Kai and his men. They barely seemed to notice her presence, but that alone was telling. Following through the group through the hallways, Sakura ended up coming through a different exit. Clearly they had a network of tunnels leading to different locations far out underground.
Sakura found Kai darting around, when they both caught sight of a flash of white vanishing behind a building on the other side of a crossing. It was only after that he realized she had been tailing him, as she kept her presence silence and he did not seem amused.
"Stay here," His order was firm as stone but it didn't put a dent in her. Sakura waited until he was across the road before she vanished from sight.
After crossing the street, Kai kept a slower pace, lightening his footsteps and the noise they made as if he was stalking.
Sakura decided to take a leap onto the building that had been crossed to and view everything from the rooftop, intending to assess the situation first. But what she found in that alleyway surprised even her. On the opposite end near the other side of the street two figures stood in front of Kai. One was a young boy, not that much older than herself. With bright blue eyes and blonde hair neatly styled, wearing an obvious hero costume if the red cape and skin tight fabric was anything to go by. And the second figure was Izuku.
'Izuku,' It was strange seeing him here since U.A students were confined to the dorms system now. So why was he here, in his hero costume and somehow walking himself straight into trouble?
Then she noticed the way he was crouched down, clutching someone to his chest. A young child, with long white hair, wrapped in bandages and wearing a worn out dress. She was holding onto Izuku while Kai loomed over them.
Sakura thought that this might turn into a conflict, until Kai spoke.
"Sorry about that," Kai said to them, his tone lighter than when he addressed Nemesis. "My daughter likes to play around a lot and keeps getting hurt."
Kai observed the two teens, Izuku who was glaring at home openly with hostility and the older boy, who seemed alert but not hostile.
They didn't answer him when he asked the hero agency they belonged to, but admitted to being students, interns. Which told Sakura how they were allowed outside now.
The blonde boy, that Sakura was yet to place started to engage with Kai, but he kept up a rather pepped tone, devoid of suspicion. Though she wondered how sincere he was when she spotted certain markers in his movements that made her instincts sing. He directed the conversation and attention onto him.
"Um…your daughter seems scared," Izuku said with a shaky tone.
"That's because she just got a scolding," Kai answered.
From how panicked he behaved in the hideout, Kai wanted that girl. The true significance of reason was what eluded Sakura. But she decided to continue to watch and see how this played out.
Whatever play they were attempting to put on though, Izuku wasn't willing to easily let go of the trembling girl. Asking more questions, not a smart move if he wanted to avoid suspicion or drawing Kai to take offensive measures. But why?
'Something is not right about this,'
"What are you doing to this girl?" Izuku asked, through his mask his glare visible.
"Geez, heroes are so sensitive to the subtle signs of people huh?" Kai turned around facing the alley again. "It's embarrassing to talk about. People are watching so will you please come this way?"
Izuku picked up the girl to carry her, followed by his partner who was hiding some stern eyes behind his goggles. Even stepping before Izuku with his shoulders straight. Indicating he was someone with far more experience to these situations than Izuku.
Still their behaviour was off. Heroes had a habit of jumping into a situation if it looked hazardous or suspicious, even if they don't fully understand and in this case there was enough evidence to assume abuse, but they didn't call Kai out right away. Did they have some objective then? Because she had only seen people behave like this when they were on missions that included observation and espionage.
'The Hassaikai group have gotten into distributing drugs, but I can't confirm if that's the reason they're behaving like this,'
Staying out of sight, Sakura moved along the building top, looking down into the ally.
Then something happened. Kai was talking about having trouble with his daughter Eri, and moved to take off one of his gloves that's when his killing intent spiked high enough to reach Sakura and she thought he might move to attack. But then the girl immediately jumped from Izuku's arms and returned to Kai's side.
Sakura felt her heart deflate as she read the situation clearly. 'She's saving them…'
Her body language was rigid even from the angle Sakura peered down at. This girl was obviously terrified of Kai yet she was willing to stand next to him so he wouldn't attack.
Izuku moved to try and call back and go after her but his partner stopped him.
"He showed his killing intent to pull that girl back to him. If we chase him too far, it'll be even harder to catch him. Let's ask Sir what to do,"
Sakura was quick to analyse the situation. The reason why they couldn't chase after the girl and save her straight away or risk a brawl with Kai. Some type of investigation must've been going on around him or perhaps his organization. But it also sounded like they were only able to look for now. Like there was something bigger going on than the fate of one hurt child. Big enough that they were willing to let her go back to him.
Kai was moving across the street and heading into the next alleyway, likely to return to the tunnels.
Tightening her fists, one thought came to mind, 'That has nothing to do with me,'