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zendozebra · 7 years ago

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All the Time in the World Chapter 16

Murata Ichigo was always told that he would serve the Time Stopper. That it was his birthright. A privilege. He was always told, “Obey his commands without question, and you will be rewarded.” He had seen his father commit terrible, horrible acts, senselessly. Torture for trivial amounts of information or money, and murder for even less. To Ichigo, the Time Stopper was an enigma; a man who created chaos for little to no reason, and didn’t even seem to care about it. He had always imagined a large, imposing man, that would take those who wronged him and turn them into twisted creations of flesh and blood. He was supposed to be a barbarian, a brute, one who had been allowed to live for over a hundred years while maintaining the prime of his youth, and would use that decades-old wisdom to torment those he despised. All he truly knew was that the man was meant to be feared and respected, and praised by both his father and Ichigo himself. So imagine Ichigo’s surprise when Time Enough was revealed to be a simple man, lean and muscular instead of large and towering with mass. He wasn’t even all that tall, either, just average height at most. He spoke oddly, like a man who cared too little and too much all at the same time, but his eyes were dull and dead. The eyes of someone who was bored. There were no light in his eyes, and they were often glazed over and unfocused. Ichigo’s father told him that their master was sick, that he’d lost what had given him his light. He’d gone to a bad place, and was trying and failing to bring himself back. He had been alone, all alone, for a long, long time. But Ichigo’s father was in no place to argue against the master’s wishes, for that was the vow he’d taken. Obey, and be rewarded. He was certainly rewarded, as Ichigo’s father had never once complained about money or food. Majima-sama had once asked for Ichigo to be brought to him, so there the boy kneels before the villain, barely 9 years old. His father stands to the side, nervously watching the master stare down the child. There were bottles upon bottles of liquor covering the floor, and the curtains were drawn shut, casting the room in a smothering layer of shadows. He held a cigarette between his fingers, and smoke curled through the air that surrounded him. The Time Stopper stood up, taking the pistol from the table beside him. He bent down in front of Ichigo, who looked up into the eyes of his so-called master. The words of his father echoed in his mind as the Time Stopper held the gun out to the boy. ‘Obey his commands without question, and you will be rewarded.’ Time Enough handed the boy the gun, and he gave his command. “Kill yourself.” So, without question, Ichigo placed the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. He was thrown to the ground as the bullet pierced the ceiling, and Time Enough’s laughter echoed throughout the room, loud and deep. The elder Murata sighed in relief, giving Ichigo a small smile and a proud nod. “Holy fuck kid, you’re the best.” The master managed to say through his howls of laughter, “People will- Oh god I’m crying- People will usually punk out, but no, man, if you’re a fucking true believer, and you fucking believe in Majima, you kill yourself with no hes-” At this point he devolved into a mess of giggles and tears. It took the man a good few minutes to calm down, but when he did, he looked at Ichigo with a soft smile. “You know, I like your moxie, kid. I think I’m gonna help you out a bit. Got any plans for the future, little guy?” “Only to follow the path you lay out for me, Majima-sama.” “Then use your fuckin’ imagination, kid. In a world where I didn’t exist, what would you like to do for a living?” Ichigo looked at his hands, glowing softly as fire licked the tips of his fingers. “My mother was an udon ch-” “Cooking school. Got it.” The master looked over at Ichigo’s father, “Send him off, Murata. I’ve got a few ideas for what he can do, but he’s gonna need his training first. Also…” He kneeled down in front of Ichigo, “I noticed that quirk of yours… I see a lot of potential. Keep training it, but don’t let anyone know the extent of your power. Always keep an ace up your sleeve.” The master looked away, turning back to his father to talk about plans, but Ichigo had seen it. A faint little twinkle of something in the man’s dark eyes. Maybe he would regain that light one day, but not for a long, long time.

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Majima walked into the restaurant, a hostess catching sight of him and immediately sitting him down at a table near the back of house. She handed him the menu, and offered him some wine, but he waved her off, asking for some soda instead. As with every visit to Othello, he had to take a moment to take in just how opulent and elegant his best worker’s establishment was. He took a look around, noticing that the owner had changed the three tapestries on the walls since his last visit. No longer did the walls show a choir of 4 angels, the temptation of 2 of them, and how the tempted 2 were damned, while the untempted 2 were allowed to ascend. Instead they now showed a Lovecraftian monster fighting a large knight, the monsters defeat at the hands of the knight, and- “Oh my, now isn’t this a pleasant surprise, Majima-sama. What brings a man of your stature to my humble little restaurant?” The old, hunched-over form of Murata Ichigo made his way over to Majima, looking every bit like the grandfather he was at heart. Still running his beloved restaurant at the age of 99, this was the man who’d worked for Time Enough for almost 90 years, now, and had been unquestionably loyal throughout that time. Yet at the same time… “Oh, cut the shit, Murata. Humble my ass, you have a fucking crystal centerpiece not 20 meters from us. How’s the family coming along?” Murata sat down, smiling kindly at the waitress who brought a glass of water for him, along with Majima’s coke. “Oh, just fine, sir. My son is getting ready to take over for me, and my great grandson is doubling his training regime. He’s aiming to get into Shiketsu High School, you know, and I know he’ll make a great hero.” Majima raised an eyebrow at that. “Hero training? Won’t that be a little, ya know, counter productive? He’ll know exactly where to look to out you to the public, and we both know that Iwasaki and Ishii aren’t exactly made to replace you. Hell, I don’t even think your son is made to replace you.” “Well, we must make do with the best we have, sir. Besides, who am I to tell my family what they can or can’t do. I know that somewhere down the line, Hori-kun will meet you, and you will find a way to convince him to keep quiet.” “You know that I am more than willing to beat your little Hori-kun into submission, right?” “Then I hope he trains hard enough to survive you, sir.” Majima laughed, remembering just why he’d always liked Murata more than the others. He understood what loyalty was, unlike Iwasaki, who he was starting to believe was planning against him. Other than that, Ishii had always been a bit… Bland. Sure, he was a good worker, and he listened to Majima fine enough, but he didn’t stand out all too much. It’s just a shame that Ishii’s position within the Hero Billboard Chart Japan offices is too valuable for Majima to just fire him. Murata had that air of a man who’s accomplished every goal he’s made for himself, which is true, since that goal was usually just “Follow Majima Kokiri”. “We have a lot to discuss, Murata. Let’s take this to your office.” Majima got out of his seat, walking past the old man and towards the door that had a golden plaque with Murata’s name on it. Murata followed after him, worrying in his grandfatherly way, “Majima-sama, weren’t you going to order a meal?” He tittered, “We can always prepare it for you to take it with you, sir. We’ve hired a new chef since your last visit, and I know you want to try his steak recipes!” “No, I’m good. I have my whole day planned out, and it’s bad luck to go against a plan before it’s fallen apart. We have a lot to talk about, and we need to get started.” “You know, sir, a plan never survives contact with the enemy.” “I’m not facing any enemies today, Murata. Only friends, and maybe a few of my students, if everything goes my way.” Majima lets Murata sit down on his own chair. Unlike with Iwasaki, Murata knows his place in this little group of his, so asserting dominance is unnecessary. Plus, the chair is padded in a way to help Murata’s back, so it’d be rude to take that away from him. “Alright, first things first, I hope you’ve gotten in contact with Ueno’s boys already. They’re not quite as good as their father was, but they’ve got the connections needed to get the shit we’re looking for, all the high-yield stuff. For the smaller stuff that I’ve got Iwasaki looking for, they’ll be able to help him out.” “Already done, Majima-sama. Ueno Jun and Ueno Len have already provided Iwasaki with the sidearm you requested along with both shotguns, and have shipped all of the ammo for it, as well as all of the shells. They tell me that they’re having trouble finding the dragon breath shells, as well as everything to do with the high-caliber rifles. They’re proving to be quite elusive, sir.” “Then I guess Iwasaki is just waiting to get everything together before he gives me a call. How about you? Your guys find anything yet?” “It’s only been a few days, sir, so the only thing we’ve gotten our hands on are the frag grenades and the lower tiered alkaline metals. The rest of the explosives will take a bit more time to acquire.” “You have until after the provisional license exams. I don’t want any major problems to get in the way of seeing what my students can do when their skills are really put to the test.” “That reminds me, Majima-sama. Why is it you’re teaching at UA, exactly? Care to put an old man’s mind at ease, sir?” Murata gave Majima a cheeky grin, making him scoff a bit, though he did smile. “Knock it off, you shit-bag. The reason I’m going to create to get you off of my back is that teaching at UA gives me an insight into the heroes movements, allowing me to plan around my enemies.” “But the real reason, sir?” “They’re good people, and they have a lot of potential. They plan to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, and I can respect that. I want to see where it is they’re headed, and where they’ll end up. Aimi was a hero, way back when, and a few of them remind me of her. Plus, some small part of me wanted to spite Akira in any way I could, so, you know…” Murata nodded, understanding what Majima was trying to say. “Perhaps we should get back to the plan, sir. I believe you said that you had plans for today? We wouldn’t want to let you wander too far off schedule.” “Yeah, alright. Where were we? The prison, yeah. Tartarus is going to be heavily guarded, that’s not too big a problem. Guards I can deal with. Heroes are going to create factors I’d rather not deal with. They’ll make going in and out of Time Stop a bit more complicated than I’d like. To make sure that as many eyes as possible are looking away from the prison, we need to set you up around UA, put you in one of the buildings near the school. We’ll set up your Sun directly above the school, keep eyes off of me. Only shoot your shit when you think everyone is calming down, and only aim for the buildings. If you hit any of the students, you’ll have to explain yourself to me. But, if you see a guy with blonde hair wearing leather, then feel free to take a few pot shots. I’m still bitter about that time he spilled coffee all over my lecture notes. Ended up giving out confidential information that Nezu got mad at me for.” “They’ll search the area, sir. What should I do should they barge into whatever building I’m in?” “You’re old, Murata. We’ll move all of your stuff in, set it up like you live there. Whatever happens, don’t let Eraserhead use his quirk on you. Act old and senile, and if you have to, get angry at all these youngsters barging into your house. You never updated your Quirk Registry, right?” “I’m still registered with a weak fireball quirk, sir.” “Good, good. Alright, well, I’ve got shit to do today. Make sure you call Ueno’s boys, make sure Iwasaki’s keeping up on his shopping list. I’m gonna head out.” Majima turned and left, walking out of the back room and onto the main floor of the restaurant, with Murata following a few meters behind him. “Yo, I’m stealing a bottle of wine by the way.” Majima called back, grabbing a bottle from the rack as he walked by and startling the waiter that had been taking an order nearby. “What is mine is yours, sir, you know this. But I was under the impression that you were a sober man now, trying to be better. For your students, if I remember correctly?” “Well, more for three students, if I’m completely honest. Ibara has those weird beliefs about alcohol or whatever, but Iida and Yaoyorozu had started to give me shit for it. Plus, I’ve been thinking about Kori a lot. Don’t think she’d want her old man to be drinking as much as I was. Besides, the bottle’s not just for me, I’m sharing it with a pretty lady tonight.” “A lady?” Murata had a confused look on his face. “I was unaware that you’d begun dating again sir, but…” He looked down for a moment, and Majima turned around to check why he’d stopped talking. When he brought his head up, a wide smile was covering his face, like a child coming face to face with their favorite hero, or just Izuku whenever Yagi walked into the room. “Well, I’m just so happy that you’re finally letting yourself be happy again, sir! You’ve been so sad for so long, the whole time I’ve ever known you. I’m so, so happy that you’re doing this for yourself, sir! Getting back into the game, as you used to tell me!” Majima looked away, growing uneasy with just how happy Murata was. He was always trying to look out for the time stopper. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Get back to work, Murata, I need you to be quick with that shopping list. The longer we wait, there’s a higher chance that Akira might try to pull something.” With that said, Majima time stopped his way back to his apartment, closing the door behind him and throwing his coat onto his couch, right next to a Uraraka. He moved into the hallway, pulling his shirt off and closing the bathroom door and started warming up the water. Seriously, over 200 years and they still couldn’t get showers to start off with hot water? That’s probably the only thing he’d been looking forward to during eternity. He set his phone to play some music while he took a shower, something light and jazzy, he’s trying to stay in a good mood, after all. He hopped right i- He turned the water off, put his pants back on and walked back out and into his living room, eyeing the brunette sitting on his couch. He pointed a finger at her, saying “You better hope the school doesn’t have your parents’ phone number on record girl, cause I will be giving them a call about this.” “Wait wait wait, Majima-sensei, please hear me out!” She exclaimed, hopping off of his couch and waving her arms about. Her face was bright red, almost stammering her words as Majima backed away from her. “You stay far the fuck away from me, girl! This already looks bad enough if someone else were to barge in here. Speaking of, how the hell did you even get in here? The only people who have a key are Nezu, Iida, Midoriya and myself. Which of them gave you their key?” “A-Actually, sensei, Nezu-sensei gave me my own key. He told me it was to ‘Pay him back for running away from his responsibilities like a child’.” “That asshole!” Majima yelled, but he quickly took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Today was not the day for this shit, that’s for sure. “Look, just… Just what do you want?” “Is there… Do you happen to know a place that is willing to hire me for a part time position? Money has been a little tight, lately and Nezu overheard me talking to Deku-kun and Iida-kun about it. He gave me a key to your apartment and told me to wait for you to get back.” “Yeah, for future reference, don’t do that. Part time, huh? Whatever, not my place to ask why, not that I care, but I can set you up with a restaurant gig, how’s that? I just got back from talking to one of my guys, owns that place down on Shikifuku Street, high-end place, classy. I’ll get your number off of Midoriya, and I’ll have my guy call you. Now get out, I have a busy day today.” She surprised him by beginning to perform a rapid series of bows, saying thank you over and over in a way that reminded him of Izuku. Finally, after about a minute of this, Majima had enough and just kicked her out. “Oh, shit, uh, when you get back to the dorms, tell Sato to start preparing a little chiffon cake for me, I need it for a date later. Tell ‘im I’ll pay for it.” With a nod of her head she was off, leaving him alone to finally take a shower. When he finished up, he used a towel to wipe away the fog in the mirror, and set about doing something he hadn’t done in 200 years- Trimming his hair and cleaning up his beard. Majima’s not an idiot, he knows that he looks like a homeless man most of the time, but today is about putting your best foot forward, and god damnit, he’s going to look nice for once. Who care if his body resets later tonight, he only has to look good for one day. 30 minutes later, his hair was a tad bit shorter and his face was completely clean shaven. He left the bathroom, putting on a black dress shirt and his best pair of slacks. He glanced at the full length mirror he had on the wall, catching sight of himself. He thought he looked good, even Kayama would probably say so, and god knows she has her tastes. He grabbed his jacket and left, heading to a small soba place down the street. He picked up some hayashi chuka, since hot noodles had always given her a stomach ache. Plus, ordinary cold soba was too cheap for what he had planned, and he’d finally snuck into Nezu’s office to grab all of his paychecks. As a result, he had money to throw around, meaning he was gonna get the best of everything he needed. Good thing Murata’s place was so high class, cause the wine he grabbed wasn’t cheap. He’d even gone so far as to buy some nice crystal wine glasses for later. See, no one can try to say that Majima wasn’t making an effort. He walked back onto the UA campus, passing an irritated Aizawa as he trained that purple kid from the sports festival. That reminded him of something he’d been talking to Kayama about, should he get an apprentice? Aizawa had the purple kid, Yagi had Izuku, hell even Yamada had been eyeing Aoyama. Should he take a student under his wing, show them all about villainy? Maybe, we’ll see. He got to the 1-A dorms and looked around for Sato, finding him in the kitchen just putting the finishing touches on the cake. He paid Sato 5,000 yen for the cake, overpaying a bit because he was in a good mood. He packed away the cake, and nodded happily when he decided that he had everything he’d need for his date. He left the dorms, walking to the train station, not wanting to use Time Stop and walk the whole way to the park. The train took about 30 minutes, and Majima was careful to not jostle his bags too much, lest he break the wine bottles or glasses. Without those, his entire plan is going to fall apart, and he’d be sorely tempted to cry. Well, not real- Yeah, no, really. He’s trying really hard, it would probably be worth a few tears. He hopped off of the train, checking his phone to check the time and continued down the street, heading towards the park. Majima passed a few little fields where children were running around and playing games, and he had to duck to avoid getting hit in the head with a soccer ball. He finally got to where he was headed, pushing past those big iron gates, wincing when they screeched open. That really hammered a few things home. Just how long has it been? He carried his bags down the gravel path, passing a few people here and there, but the park was an old one, very old, so there weren’t too many that he had to worry about. Mostly small families, trying to teach their little ones a bit of family history and whatnot. Majima was heading to the farthest part of the park, all the way towards the back, so he knew he wouldn’t have to deal with any of them. Still, knowing they were around put him on edge. Where there were people, there was the opportunity for crime time funzies, and with crime time funzies came heroes. With heroes came the cops, then investigations, then blah blah blah, you get the point. He didn’t want to deal with that today. He walked for about 20 minutes, the air around him growing colder as night grew closer. He looked up, guessing he had about another 15 minutes before the last of the sun’s light fell over the horizon. That was fine, he only needed just enough time to get them all set up. Eventually, he arrived at the very back of the park, where trees were wide and the grass tall. The benches scattered here and there were old, even older than he was, and were rusted and rotted, falling apart with age. The gravel path had become cobblestone, and the tall rocks that surrounded him were crumbling away. Except for one, though, standing tall, proud, and polished against the dreariness around it, and that’s where his date was waiting for him. He smiled, and laughed as he ran the last few meters to meet here. “There you are, I’ve been looking for you. You wouldn’t believe the day that I’ve had, let me tell you. I had to visit Murata, make plans for murder, you know how that usually works out, then I had to get one of my students a job- Oh, it’s been nonstop all day.” He sat down, looking at the sunset before he started unpacking his bags. “It’s been awhile since we’ve done this, so I made sure I got you your favorite.” He put one of bowls of hayashi chuka on the ground in front of him, before grabbing his own, taking a bite. Majima pulled the chiffon cake out, setting it to the side as he grabbed the wine glasses. Grabbing the bottle of the dark red liquor, he pulled the cork out with a grunt, laughing softly as he poured himself a glass of wine. He filled the second glass and placed it in front of the stone, leaning back and taking a drink. He glanced at the sunset, casting the sky in a beautiful array of pink and purple while as the sun finally fell past the horizon. The stars were beginning to twinkle in the night, and sighed, “So much has happened lately. Let me tell you all about it.”

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zendozebra · 7 years ago

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All the Time in the World Chapter 15

Majima had to leave UA. He can’t stay anymore, not with everything that’s happened, everything that’s going to happen. Yagi is out the game for good, Kamino was fucking leveled, and on top of everything else that’s happened, Aki- All for One was put away. Not dead, no, Yagi couldn’t finish the fucking job. No, instead they put him away, locked him in a cage, like he was some kind of animal that children would gawk at while visiting the zoo, while their parents were too busy fucking themselves in the reptile house! Ooh, fuck, he’s made himself angry, fuck, he’s got to calm himself do-

He grabbed his coffee mug and threw it at the wall with all of his strength, the ceramic shattering while his students jumped in their seats. “WHO FUCKING SNEEZED?!”

None of his students raised their hands, which was probably for the best, seeing as Majima very obviously wasn’t himself at the moment. He was upset, okay? A lot of shit has happened, he’s had a bad week, he’s still trying to stay sober, not to mention that his last conversation with his best friend had ended with Majima waking up in the morgue. None of his associates at school had been around to identify his body and take him back to UA and wait for his body to reset, so the search teams had simply written him off as another victim and sent him away. Que him waking up, naked mind you, in one of those weird chilled body-lockers that they had in morgues and promptly freaking out the doctors working there when he kicked the slot open and slid out cold and angry. A pair of pants and a call to Nezu later and he was back at the school, where Aizawa had helped him catch up on everything that’s happened.

Apparently, they were instituting a dorm system for their students now, which was both good and bad. Good, because it meant that Mina and Izuku would no longer have to worry about the trains when they had their extra study sessions, meaning he can keep them longer than he could before, and he could keep a better eye out for Izuku in general. He could also tell Shoji to ease up a bit on that end, which the six-armed student would probably appreciate. No more bone breaking for that little shit, but he’ll make sure Shoji is still keeping an eye out when Majima wasn’t around. However, it was bad because since he went sober, Majima was still dealing with some pretty bad insomnia, so he’d often go on walks to calm his nerves. Calm his nerves? Oh god, he was spending too much time around Izuku and his mother. He really needs to new friends.

After he was made aware of the dorm thing, Yagi and Aizawa had left to get permission from the parents, a trip Majima would have liked to go on if not for him being pulled aside by Nezu, who wanted to now why his body had been found at the nomu facility. Apparently, the only thing that was saving him from any of Nezu’s maniacal fury was the fact that he had been found dead by All for One’s hands, sending a rather clear message that the two of them were no longer on speaking terms. Nezu also apologized for not responding to Majima’s call for backup, which in hindsight would have told them all exactly where All for One was hiding out. Majima would have been angrier at the whole situation, but he had a murder he had to plan and put into motion, which was kind of his main priority at the moment, so he’d readily accepted the mouse’s apology.

Bringing himself back to his current situation, he forced himself to take a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. He sat down at his desk, making a mental note to clean up the broken coffee mug when class was over. This whole murder thing was seriously stressing him out. Normally, he wouldn’t be doing this himself, seeing as he’s got Iwasaki and his group of thugs to do most of the dirty work while Majima took the time to not-sleep. But, this was his friend. This was Ak-All for One, and Kokiri would be damned if anyone but himself pulled that trigger. Not to mention, breaking into Tartarus would be damn-near impossible for almost anyone to pull of, so Time Stop was going to be invaluable here. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out just what quirks that All for One had in him, so that Majima can figure out a way to put him down for good. Hopefully, he wouldn’t find anything that would stop plan A, which was to pump as many bullets as he can into All for One’s head at the same instant. He doubted anything in his life would be that easy, though, so he’s just waiting to see what roadblock he finds.

The bell rang, causing all of his students to silently make their way out into the hall, closing the door when the last when made it out. With a heavy sigh, Majima went to cleanup the remains of his only coffee mug, meaning he’d have to buy himself a new one with all of that money he doesn’t have. The only way to get his paycheck was to pick it up from Nezu in the principal’s office, which Majima refused to do, lest Nezu start bitching at him for something or whatever.

His phone went off, apparently Yamada was telling him that it was his shift to watch over Yagi while he was still recovering. The man was out of the hospital, but he still had a broken arm, since Chiyo refused to heal him. Kind of unfair, seeing as he’d been forced into the fight against him, but that crazy bitch was as stubborn as ever, so there was no arguing with her. However, with his secret now public, there were a dozen loser-class villains trying to get their revenge on All Might at every hour of the day, so the teachers had been taking shifts to try and stop them until they got the message and crawled back into their holes. Majima had been trying to avoid Yagi recently, but Aizawa had strong-armed him into taking a few shifts, so it didn’t seem like he’d have a choice anymore.

Yagi knew who Akira was, now. The whole staff knew about his connection to All for One, and it wasn’t helping his already bad reputation. Now, Majima was fine with being seen as an asshole and a scumbag, that’s what he was. He wouldn’t deny the truth, since that would make him delusional. He knew what he was, and he’d always made a point to make sure everyone around him knew that he was proud of his shitty, shitty behavior. And in a way that was admirable. Majima had always owned up to his mistakes, and that was a trait he was trying to teach to some of his students, specifically the boys. Kirishima had taken to it almost immediately, but some of the others still showed some hesitance. Everyone made mistakes, and the only way forward was to acknowledge them and move on. But he wasn’t proud of All for One. He’d let his friend become something horrible, even by Majima’s own famously-low standards. Admitting to something like that almost felt world-shattering, and Majima felt that he’d have to push down more than just his pride to own up it.

He time-stopped his way over to Yagi’s big-ass house, quickly popping Yamada in the mouth when the blonde DJ yelled in surprise. Majima was already loathing his time here, and he hadn’t even seen Yagi yet, so you could tell that this visiting was off to a rollicking good start. He pushed the door open, debating whether or not he should even bother taking his shoes off. He did, figuring that Yagi was already mad and tracking dirt into his house probably wouldn’t make this easier.

“Yagi, you blonde bastard, let’s settle this like men and get this shit over wi-” A solid punch to the face knocked him to the ground, because apparently Yagi can still pack a pretty decent punch. And now Majima’s nose is bleeding, so that was fun. Fuck it, he’s letting himself bleed onto Yagi’s floor, fuck this house. He looked up, and stared into those blazing blue eyes of the former Number 1 hero, and boy did he look pissed.

Majima growled in annoyance. “How about you don’t punch me again, EVER, and in return, I’ll tell you about my plan to kill All for One.” There we go, that caught his attention. Majima stood up, walking into Yagi’s kitchen and going through his cabinets, looking for something to eat. He’d been trying to ignore food all day, since he didn’t want to make a habit of stress eating, but since he’d taken a break from his “Kill List”, he wanted to at least snack on something. “Damn, do you have anything other than graham crackers in here? Can you not eat anything else? What do you do for calories?”

“What did you mean by ‘kill All for One’? He’s your friend, you said so yourself.”

“That’s right.” Well, seeing as his only other option was saltine crackers, the graham crackers will have to do.

“Why do you want to kill your friend, Majima-san?”

“I don’t want to kill Akir-All for One, Yagi, I really don’t. I’ve lost all of my friends already, and he’s the last one I’ve got. But at the same time, I’m not going to sit back and watch you and your fucking cop friends watch him from behind a glass window, staring at him like he’s some kind of- Some kind of animal!” God damnit, he seriously has to get a hold of these anger issues that’s been developing. Maybe he should see a therapist. Is Chiyo busy on Wednesday? He’d have to look. “Look, Yagi, I don’t care what you think about me, or my past, or my friends. I don’t care, I really don’t. But I need you to understand that I am on your side.”

“You haven’t done much to prove it, Majima-san, so you can understand why I worry sometimes. As it stands, you have caused our school more problems than you have helped to solve.”

“I know, I know, but I’m trying my best, and right now, my best isn’t a whole lot. Not to you, and not to the kids, and you know, maybe you’re right about me. Maybe I do cause more problems than I’m worth, but I’m trying to do right by these kids, and help them stay alive at the very least.”

Yagi looked at him for a long while, sighing heavily and sitting down on one of the chairs he had in his kitchen. “Why were you there looking for All for One?”

“… I don’t know. I was looking for him so that I could talk to him, try to get him to answer for all of the shit he’s pulled, but I was too angry about everything he’s done to stay on topic. I was bitter and spiteful, which I don’t regret for a moment, but I missed out on a chance to get some good info. Maybe I’ll ask a few questions when I see him in Tartarus, I don’t know. But I did find out about the original line of One for All.”

That caught the blonde’s attention. “Where did it start? I assume it started with your friend, Jin, but where did it go from there?”

“Jin gave it to my wife, Aimi, who then gave it to our babysitter, Okoye, who would go on to be Okoye the Brave. She gave it to Ultraman, then to Wilfre, but I don’t know who she picked as her successor. Whoever it was would eventually go on to pick Shimura Nana, who then picked you, and then we both know where it went from there.”

“I’ll be sure to tell young Midoriya of all of this. He might come to you for more questions.”

“Other than Jin, Aimi, and Okoye, I won’t have too many answers for him. Besides that, I’m having Shoji do me a favor. He’s been keeping an eye on Midoriya for me, making sure he doesn’t push himself like he did in the forest. I didn’t see any of the damage, but I heard the horror stories that Shoji told me. I offered him 1,000 yen an hour, but he just wanted some extra combat training instead. Figured that would be an easy compromise.”

Yagi nodded his head, looking at his feet. “I’ve failed young Midoriya as his mentor-”

“Yep.”

“And-” Yagi gave him an odd look, but continued on regardless, “I have plans to begin giving him personal lessons, and I would hope that you can help me with what to teach him.”

“Are you just offering me your apprentice? He’s your responsibility, not mine. I’m just trying to keep him from killing himself. I owe Inko at least that.”

“Hmm.” Majima waited for Yagi to say something else, but the retired hero seemed intent to remain quiet.

Majima jabbed his thumb towards the door. “So can- I’m just gonna leave, now. I’ve got some business I need to handle, and I need to get my nose checked out. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Oh, yes, don’t let me keep you, I can handle myself if anything comes up.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Majima, dressed as his Time Enough persona, walked into Iwasaki’s hideout, taking the hired thugs by surprise. One of them informed him that Iwasaki was out with his family, and offered to send a message to the man, which Majima agreed to. Wanting to pass the time a bit faster, Majima sat down at one of the card tables, throwing some money in and starting up a game of poker. He kept his mask on, can’t let anyone figure out that Time Enough and the Watcher are the same person. The idea that he’s gotten away with that lie for as long as he has is ridiculous, and kind of sad, really. Whatever, either way, he made sure he didn’t use Time Stop to cheat and look at the other’s cards. It’s not that cheating bothered him, but this was a game of skill, and Majima was rather proud of his ability to play poker. He’s not as good as he is with blackjack, but he has his experience. They played for about 30 minutes, with Majima only winning back a bit more than he’d bet, and just as they started a new hand, Iwasaki burst through the door, hyperventilating and dripping with sweat.

“What, did ya fuckin’ run all the way here? I was told you were with your family, ain’t that right? Did you dropped them the instant you heard that I was here waiting for ya?” The man couldn’t answer him, his chest still heaving as he tried to sputter an answer. “Alright! Calm the hell down, we’ll take this to your office.” Majima stood up and threw down his cards. “Lucky bastards, I had 3 aces. I was gonna collect all that shit, fucking, let’s go.” He dragged the fat bastard down the hall and to the man’s office, where he threw him to the ground and stepped over him. He made his way behind Iwasaki’s desk, taking a look at the documents and folders he’d left out in the open.

“We have a lot to do, boy, and by we I mean you. I have to kill All for One, and I’m the only person in the world who is willing to take the chance to try and pull it off, so while I do my research into Tartarus, I’m having you and Murata go shopping for me. I’ve already talked to Murata and he started sending guys out before I’d even left, so I expect the same level of cooperation with you, boy.” The man gave him an incredibly determined nod, but the look of unease never left his face. Majima really didn’t think it was going to go anywhere throughout the rest of this conversation.

“So, Iwasaki, I have a small list of items that you’re going to get for me because I am both too lazy and too busy to do it myself. I need a revolver, specifically a Smith and Wesson model 60, that’s the only brand that made a stock that I actually liked. I’m gonna need about… I wanna say 120 hollow point rounds to go with it. I need shotguns, both 12 and 20 gauge, with a minimum of 30 shells each of every type they’ve got: standard, slugs, buckshot, coin shot, fuck it, get me some of those dragon breath rounds that Murata told me about too. A high-calibre sniper rifle, don’t care which brand or make, so long as it can fire .50 calibres or higher. Speaking of, I need 10 rounds of every one of those too, standard, armour piercing, incendiary, explosive, all of it. You getting all of this, shit head?” Iwasaki was furiously writing down this ever-increasing list, nodding his head nervously. Made sense, his supposedly psychopathic boss was ordering enough ordnance to arm a small mercenary group, and not one of the cheap ones, either.

“I need I’m gonna need bleach, chlorine, gasoline, some matches, and as much hot tar you can get your hands on. If plans A through Y fail, plan Z is to try to turn the poor bastard into a statue. Give me some more time to think of another set of plans.”

Iwasaki looked at the incredibly long list that he held in his hands. “Umm, sir, are you sure all of this is necessary?”

“Oh, this shit ain’t the half of it. This is just the small stuff, I have Murata getting me all of the heavy ordnance that I’ll need.”

“Hea-The heavy ordnance?”

“Napalm, grenades, plastic explosives, thermite, arsenic, canisters of nitroglycerin, cellulose nitrate, hydromite 600, and every composition and alkaline metal under the sun. I’m going to hit him with every weapon, chemical and explosive that I can get my hands on, and I sure hope that I won’t have to use anything nuclear. If it comes to that, then I guess the life of every guard and prisoner within that hell hole will be a fitting price to pay to finally scrub that creature off of the face of this Earth.”

“Sir? If I may ask… I was under the impression that you were a close ally of the League of Villains. Why do you want to kill their leader?”

Majima looked at Iwasaki for a minute, before he sighed and sat down. He let his shoulders sag and, for the first time in a long time, he started to truly feel his age. All 300 years, resting heavy on his shoulders. He needed to see a therapist or something. “Ak-All for One is no longer the man I once knew. The man I allied with was a man of conviction, purpose, and will. He had his goals, and he had his principles and his codes. He had rules that he would follow, strictly, and it was that sense of order that drew me in. I thought to myself, ‘This is a man who holds himself accountable to his own failures.’ And he did, for a long time. Now, the man who is locked away in Tartarus, is a parasite, leeching off of a world that has moved on from him, and he is hindering it’s progress. He is preventing humanity from moving forward, and that is shameful. He has broken every code he has ever had, and he now stands, proudly, as the symbol of everything he has ever despised.”

Majima up at Iwasaki, and his heart clenched when he forced himself to say, “All for One is no longer a man, but an animal. You can put an animal away, but that won’t fix your problem, it will only turn an animal feral. The only way to solve this problem, is to put him down. As his last remaining friend in the entire world… I believe that I have a duty of care, and that I must be the one who pulls the trigger. It won’t be right if I let someone else do it, it has to be me.”

Iwasaki took a look at the list in his hands. “It will take some time to gather everything you’ve asked for, sir, but I’ll notify Murata-san when my men have finished.” The man bowed to his boss before backing out of the room, leaving Majima alone. The time stopper took of his red mask, looking at it for a long moment. The sinister smile of the oni carved into it had never looked more wicked than it did at that moment, and for whatever reason, the mask felt heavier than it normally did.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N- If this chapter feels a bit rushed in places, that’s because I’m trying to convey that Majima is experiencing a bit of a crisis, and is trying to use radical methods to quickly solve all of his problems.

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