"Welcome, sir, are you checking in?"

Cheap yet cosy was how Izuku would describe it. The foyer was carpeted with a warm orange, the furniture faded oak. Against the wall, the news played, yesterday's papers scattered on the table. Any guests were long in bed, three A.M. too much for even the most dedicated office worker to withstand.

Which made this the perfect location for a stakeout.

He adjusted his tie, and shook his suitcase. Added with his baggy eyes, he was the perfect picture of an exhausted worker. He didn't mean to yawn, but he rolled with it.

"Yes please." He put his case down. As she turned to the computer, he raised a hand. "Excuse me, if it's not too much trouble I'd like to request a specific room." He continued at her quizzical look. "I'm somewhat of a regular here. I usually don't stay in the office so late, you know?"

The receptionist smiled. "Of course, sir. Which room is it?"

"305 please."

"Certainly. Let me just log you in and get your keys."

Izuku smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

Two minutes later, Izuku closed his door and rushed to the window, closing the curtains before he turned off the lights. He fished a torch out of his pocket and set it on the floor, using it as a makeshift lamp as he opened his case.

Inside was his costume, still a little bloodied from his earlier fight. It rested on the bottom of the suitcase, covered by listening equipment, a grapple hook and a pair of binoculars. All of them were terribly outdated, but the agency didn't have a budget to work with, so he had to do with what he collected in his otaku days.

He checked his watch and peeked through the curtains. The building across seemed like any other in Tokyo; a shop on the ground floor and apartments above. However, it was the alley Izuku was looking at. There was a person there, hidden in shadow as they sat on the ground. Through his binoculars he could see the man's tattered clothing. If he didn't know any better, he would assume the man to be homeless.

But he had been following them for months.

Petty crime here, a bank robbery there, they all made loose threads that Izuku started to piece together. The same faces kept showing up, and those that were caught were known yakuza.

It was then Izuku thought back to the whole debacle ten years ago, when the heroes stormed a yakuza hideout on the search for experimental weapons. They caught Chisaki's Precepts, but the leader himself remained at large, the weapons along with him. Since then, there were heroes who had their quirks neutralised, each time the effect lasting longer.

Heroes applications declined swiftly after.

Up until now, the yakuza had been ghosts, blending in with society, flowing along the waves of unease that permeated Japan. But if Izuku was right, something big was about to go down.

He reached into his case and set up the equipment on the windowsill, twitching it until he could hear the man's ragged breathing.

With everything in place, Izuku pulled up a chair and sat down, opened his thermos and took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee. It was going to be a long night.

It was an hour before sunrise when there was movement. A pair of men approached. Izuku put on his headphones.

"The snake burrows," one said.

The ragged man stood and replied, "and cleanses the earth."

The ragged man moved to the side and pressed a hand to the wall. A brick gave, opening up a sliding door.

"I still don't get all this code word stuff. You know who we are, this ain't no spy film."

The ragged man chuckled. "You know what the boss is like. 'Sides, you'll see why we've got all this when the meeting starts."

One of the men stilled. "You mean…"

"Just wait and see."

With that, the men entered and the door clicked back into place. The guard going back to his inconspicuous duty.

Time to move.

He closed his case, picked it up and set out the door. When he passed the foyer, he gave the receptionist a smile. "Just stepping out for a bit."

She nodded blearily, obviously ready for the end of her shift.

When he was out the door, Izuku checked his watch as he turned the corner. 04:15. He had two hours before he had to report back to the agency. Plenty of time. Then again, when did things go right?

Still in his suit, he approached the guard, head slightly bent. "The snake burrows," he said.

"And cleanses the earth," the guard replied. "I didn't think we'd be having anyone else in." The skepticism was evident.

However this wasn't Izuku's first infiltration. "I've been out of town. Took me a while to get with all those checkpoints in place."

"They are a pain, aren't they?" The guard crossed his arms. "Don't think I've seen you around though. I'd remember that hair. I'm very good at remembering people."

That probably had something to do with the camera lense embedded on his forehead, peeking from underneath his cap. "In my line of work, if you're spotted then you're dead."

"An assassin then? More reason for you to leave your case here." His head gestured to the wall.

"I can't bring it in?" Izuku's voice remained neutral. Go with the flow.

"You can bring your heat, but the case will have to stay. Assassins have a tendency to be bought out. That could be a bomb for all I know."

"It's not, I assure you."

The guard smirked. "Then you won't mind opening it for us then, would you?"

Izuku tightened his grip and smiled. "Of course." He reached for the clasp. The guard's eyes followed. His smile became a smirk.

There was a rustle of cloth and a rush of wind as the case slammed into the guard's face, breaking his lense and knocking him out. Izuku dragged the man aside and propped him against the wall before pushing in the brick.

The locks behind the wall clicked open and the inside was revealed; an elevator, another guard standing by the controls. Judging by the bored expression on his face, he was none the wiser.

"Get in then. It's about to start. Not like I can see it anyway," he mumbled at the end.

Izuku nodded and stepped in, his back to the guard. When the gates closed and the lift started to descend, Izuku feigned hesitation. "One second. Could you hold this for me?" Held the case forward.

"Uh, sure." As soon as his hands grasped it, Izuku struck, grabbing the man's face and slamming his head into the metal wall. He dropped along with the case. Izuku's chest churned at the force he used.

You're already at a disadvantage, kid. Don't make it worse by holding yourself back.

He shook his head, opened the case and slid his mask over his head, the fabric settling over his mouth and neck once again. He didn't want any yakuza getting a good look at him.

Surprisingly, there were no guards when the doors opened. Perhaps they thought their defenses were suitable enough.

The hideout was a factory, pipes large and small running along the walls, feeding into the blaring lights above and massive tanks filled with a liquid of some kind from izuku could see through the windows. On the floor, about fifty yakuza stood watching the catwalk opposite Izuku's, several men dressed head to toe in white suits gazing resolutely forward.

Izuku ducked down and found a shadowed ccorner by the staircase. The door guard said they weren't expecting anyone else, so he should be safe from being snuck up on.

The murmurs of the crowd hushed a the office door opened. Step by high-heeled step, she clanged her way across the catwalk, white dress fluttering behind her. When she reached the railing, she leaned forward, a shadow casting over her face.

Chisaki's people still had a flair for the dramatic.

There was a beat, then she spoke. "Brothers and sisters, today marks the beginning." Young, strong, resolute, yet gentle. Details that didn't match any of Chisaki's current pack of Precepts. Yet the girl was still in a position of power. "The beginning of cleansing this country of the infestation that has plagued it for so long."

There was a thrum of anticipation through the crowd.

"I speak of the heroes. Of so-called keepers of the peace. Of people who threw the yakuza into the darkness, where they left us as they basked in their new world of light. But they forgot. They forgot who we were. We who ran this country for centuries. We who kept order and helped our fellow countrymen. We who will once again bring salvation."

They were enraptured, chattering amongst themselves. Izuku could understand why. The girl was convicted in her speech.

"Yet there are still rats who would fight against the cleansing." Something cold shot through Izuku's body. "Rats who scurry in the shadows. Following, picking at the scraps we leave behind." The room became heavy. "And even though rats are clever, they are like any animal. Tempt them in with what they want, and trigger the trap whilst they are unaware." The lift doors slammed close. "Isn't that right, rat?"

All heads turned to him, and he could see the girl's red eyes pierce the darkness. Slowly, the yakuza below made for the stairs. Slowly, Izuku backed up, eyeing any other routes he could go. Whilst he was scanning, he saw the girl give a bloodthirsty grin. "Kill him. He will be the start of our proclamation."

Their steps advanced and Izuku cursed, his heart thundering in his chest. There had to be somewhere. They wouldn't just have one way in and out, would they? Surely not. There had to be somewhere -.

There was light being cast on the factory floor, shining from a corridor in the corner. There was one complication: it was through the fifty or so yakuza, all of whom were encroaching on him.

It was times like these Izuku wished he had a quirk.

There was a blur. Someone jumped over the railing, claws poised for attack.

Izuku moved without thinking, shifting to the side and bringing up his case to slam into the woman's body. She span in the air, landing on all fours before coiling back, one hand raised. The first time Izuku sees a real-life cat girl and she wanted to kill him. Great.

Her attack spurned the others, and Izuku had to quickly turn and swing as another tried to strike him from behind. Another came from the front and was kicked away into his friends. Something hard clocked Izuku on the back of the head, and he rolled with the blow, barely managing to get back to his feet before he was kicked to the ground.

His hands flew to his face as he curled in on himself, blows beginning to rain down on him.

Thump. Smack. A boot slammed into his liver. Another was stomping at his hands, desperately trying to reach his face.

Each hit pushed his consciousness further away.

This is it then…

"Don't give up!"

The voice startled him and he almost stumbled off the edge.

Izuku looked around, wild eyed.

"I know it's bad now, but it'll get better, I'm sure!"

It came from beneath. There, a girl he couldn't make out through the trees was cupping her hands over her mouth.

"So don't give up! Ganbatte!"

Ganbatte… I guess it's not this time either.

With a cry that burnt his throat, he grabbed the nearest leg and pulled, bringing down whoever it belonged to. Izuku was quickly on him, withstanding the painful blows to his back as he slammed an elbow into the man's face.

With another cry, he charged for the mass, shrugging off a fist that clumsily met his face. The world blurred as he threw his fists and stumbled from blows. Eventually, his back met the wall. Quirks flared, Izuku's instincts screamed, and he ducked just before a knife ebedded into the concrete behind him.

Rising back up, Izuku grabbed a pipe on the wall and ripped it off, using the swing to clock a yakuza on the side of the head. Some backed up. Other, bulkier ones kept going.

Izuku gritted his teeth and swung.

Jaws, joints, in between the legs. Izuku hit anything vital he could as he tried to thin them down. Some were startled by his ferocity, and backed up enough that Izuku could see his case on the floor.

He threw the pipe at the people surrounded it and charged as they flinched back. When his hands locked around the handle, he swung again, knocking one down and creating an opening for Izuku to jump from the catwalk to the floor below. Not wasting time, he sprinted down the corridor.

"Kill him! Kill him, kill him, kill him!" She was furious.

Just before Izuku could make it to the door at the end of the corridor, his feet were grabbed and he fell, cursing as his chin bounced off the floor.

Twisting, he barely missed the clawed hand to his face. His hand flew back and was parried. The two began trading blows, neither landing as the cat girl snarled. At the sound of dozens of footsteps, Izuku chose to slip the swipe, getting a raking claw on his cheek. It stung, but it gave him the chance to counter with his own fist, knocking the woman off, who he finished with a kick to the face.

Free, he slammed into the door, not looking back as it brought him into a confined tunnel. He kept running, until he came upon a split. One path forward, two on the sides.

"Get him!"

He picked left, sprinting through his burning lungs.

He didn't know how long he ran, but eventually the sounds of his pursuers faded. Still, he couldn't stop. Soon he heard the sound of water and followed it to its source.

It was the sewer network. Beams of light came through the grate above the service ladder. Wherever Izuku was going to end up, it would at least be outside.

He got a few odd looks from the early goers as he slid back the grate and pulled himself up with some difficulty.

"Midori?"

Izuku froze, slowly turning his head up to the dazzling form of the world's number one hero. "Lemillion!" The early morning sky blazed above him. "You're up late."

The hero quirked his thin brow. "It's six in the morning."

Ah, yes. Not everyone had Izuku's schedule. He blushed, his old stutter washing over him. "Y-yeah…"

"What were you doing in the sewer? Is that blood? Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine! Well not one hundred percent, but there's something more important here. It's the yakuza."

A strange shade went across Lemillion's eyes at their name. "What is it?"

"They're planning something. Something big. I didn't know how big it was," he rambled, "I didn't know it would be so quick, but they're going to do something."

"So you knew about this?"

"No, yes… listen, I'll tell you everything, but we need to move."

"Okay, Midori," Lemillion said, holding out a helping hand. "But you're going to tell me everything."

Izuku nodded, becoming aware of the stench on his clothes. "Absolutely, we'll just have to - wait." Lemillion quirked a brow. "You said it was six in the morning?"

"Yes, why is - "

Izuku's watch sprang to life, a growl coming from the other end. "Midori," the deep female voice ground out. "Where. Are. You. This is the fifth time you've been late reporting in!"

"I - I'm sorry, but I just finished up a case. I'm just going to debrief Lemillion on something then I - "

"Oh no you don't! You're coming right here! Bring that lug with you as well."

"Y-yes ma'am."

"You've got five minutes, Midori."

Thank you for reading.