Chapter 14: Chapter 14 - We do a little bit of stealing
Following the incident, the rest of the school day went smoothly. Bakugou became wary of Izuku after the punch.
Despite his temper, he realized from that one punch that the current Izuku is far stronger than him. He has no idea what Izuku's quirk is, but he suspects it has to do with his physical ability.
Disregarding that though, Bakugou was more upset about Izuku's sudden personality change.
He noticed that Izuku never opened his hero diary, muttered hero nonsense loudly, or appeared timid in front of him. Instead, he was calm and aloof and oftentimes sleeps in class. It was a complete 180 and he didn't like it one bit.
'What the fuck happened to you Deku…' He thought to himself, staring at Izuku's fleeting figure through the window as he left the school gates.
He then remembered his mother's words to not mess around with Izuku anymore. This word of caution only fueled his anger more, 'How the fuck am I supposed to let it end like this you old hag…
Just you wait Deku…I'll show you why I was and always will be at the top.'
~~~~
Izuku texted Inko, saying that he will be late because he will be hanging out with his friends. It was a lie, of course.
He was currently boarding a train straight to Tokyo. Due to quirks, transportation in this world had advanced quite a bit as the train ride only took him 30 minutes to complete.
He had changed out of his student uniform because he didn't want to draw attention to himself. He was dressed casually in a black hoodie over a dark blue shirt and black loose short sportswear pants.
Leaving the train, Izuku looked at the clear blue sky above, enjoying the rather busy atmosphere of the rowdy surroundings. Even though it wasn't peak hours, the streets of Tokyo were quite full of people.
He enjoyed blending in with the crowd, as only when people were the busiest are they the most vulnerable. And his previous jobs relied on that factor quite a lot.
Izuku walked within the crowd of businessmen and tourists, vying around the sky-high skyscrapers and billboards full of hero news and advertisements. 50% of those are filled with the face of All-Might, and Izuku understood why.
Even if he wasn't an original resident of the world, seeing that stupidly stiff smile made him feel safe. Izuku wasn't sure if it was because of the previous Izuku's influence or not, but he felt All-Might deserved his pedestal.
'It's ridiculous how selfless he is...' Izuku pondered. The smallest amount of research he did on him revealed how pure the No. 1 Hero is. 'That's anime logic for you,' he thought, wondering how someone with that much power could exist.
"Ah, sorry," A man almost fell as he bumped into Izuku. Had it not been for Izuku catching his suit, the man would've fallen to the ground. Being trampled by the busy crowd is quite scary, as the man immediately apologized and bowed to thank you.
"Don't worry, look where you're going next time," Izuku smiled as he returned the bow and left. He isn't exactly accustomed to how much Japanese people bowed, but he needed to do so just to blend further in.
'What a nice boy…Oh no, I'm late!' The man looked at his green watch and immediately scurried off, not wanting to waste any more time.
Izuku returned his gaze to the running man, his smile gone as if it had never existed. If anyone was paying attention, his previously empty hoody pockets had gained a few items.
~~~~~
"Here's 1 caffe latte, thank you for your patronage," A gentle young girl slipped a cup of coffee into Izuku's hand as he paid and tipped her. He soon realized his mistake as she immediately flushed her hands and insisted on returning the tip.
'I really need to get used to this,' Izuku smiled wryly, entering his private reading room with a few stacks of books. He was currently trying to find some privacy in a rather unpopular manga cafe.
Izuku sat in his private room. It was big enough to have a single queen-sized bed, a small table and chair, and a TV cramped into it.
He set the books on the table and emptied the contents of the large bag he carried onto the bed. It contains his new backpack, which he immediately stuffs with everything from his old one, except a single bag of black plastic.
Izuku fixed his gaze on the rubber band that held the bag shut. When he opened his palm, the rubber band flew towards it, revealing the contents of the bag to be several wallets.
'Bansho Ten'in is really useful,' Izuku thought. He frequently uses both of his abilities to do menial tasks at home. Apart from being convenient, it also trains his accuracy and stamina consumption, so he always used his quirk when he wasn't in public.
Though, it did have some exceptions. Izuku frequently uses his abilities in public, just not at a scale that is easily observable, and only when he's 100% sure no one will notice. For a related example, to knock people down.
'Instead of me bumping into my target, by using a combination of Shinta Tensei to push their legs and Bansho Ten'in to emulate them tripping over a rock, I can control them to fall into me instead…'
Unless they have a specific quirk that can detect his, there would be no reason for them to suspect Izuku of using his. Even if they knew something, tracing it back to him is nigh impossible.
Izuku purposefully chose streets like Tokyo where time is more often than not the essence, meaning that unless his victim is absolutely sure, they wouldn't stop to check what Izuku did.
Combined with Izuku's experience of pickpocketing items and the perfectly 'natural' blunder on their part, it's practically guaranteed for Izuku to snatch something from his victims.
Of course, Izuku didn't succeed all the time. For one, not everyone wears the same clothing. Izuku only learned about the ins and outs and possible pockets of several famous brands such as Pro Hero, Best Jeanist's, etc.
If they weren't wearing them, Izuku had a 50% chance of finding and then stealing their wallets.
Izuku didn't bother stealing their material possessions like phones or watches. They're difficult to salvage, especially since he's unfamiliar with the area and could incriminate him.
Wallets, on the other hand, house virtually untraceable cash. Maybe there are ways or quirks that can lead to him, but Izuku wasn't too concerned. The chances of that happening are so slim that it isn't even worth considering.
Izuku used his quirk again, flying each wallet out 1 by 1 to his hand, taking the money out, and pushing it back into the bag. It took him 1/4th his stamina to complete the cycle of 6 wallets but it was good training.
'130.000 yen (~1k usd)…People don't carry much cash in this world,' Izuku muttered, putting the money into his own wallet and zipping the black bag tight. He would dispose of the wallets in various ways, with incineration being his preferred method.
As for the leftover contents such as cards and IDs? Unfortunately, Izuku had no way to safely salvage their value, so into the fire they go. He looked at his burned old backpack and thought to make use of a certain someone's quirk to burn the evidence.
'Finally, you're useful for something,' Izuku grinned.
Izuku checked his phone, which read 16:15. It took him a long time to steal those six wallets, and while he wanted to read some manga, he needed to return quickly if he wanted to make dinner. 'Well, another time then,'
Izuku put on his new backpack, which contained the old backpack and wallet bag, and prepared to leave. But just as he was about to, he heard the door handle turn.
Only he and the girl behind the counter had access to the door's key, but she wouldn't intrude under any circumstances, leaving Izuku puzzled.
He set his bag down and kept his cool, thinking he had forgotten to lock the door or something. There was no way he could have already been caught, so it had to be something else.
The door shut just as quickly as it opened. Izuku looked perplexed when a businessman suddenly entered, maintaining eye contact with him the entire time as if this was his room and not Izuku's.
He soon realized, however, that the businessman in front of him hadn't made any mistake, rather he did. Big time. He saw the watch on the man's hand as his eyes turned small. 'Green watch…how…'
Izuku stared at the calm businessman as his expression suddenly descended into one of madness. His pupils turned small and diluted as he flashed his deranged grin.
"HE…HEHEHE, I FOUnd you…I finally found you…
Midoriya Izuku…"
Izuku turned tense as the man said his name. He realized it wasn't about the wallet. Not at all. He saw obsession in the man's eyes, obsession directed at him…
This...this was something entirely different...
~~~~~
(A/N: Ooooh, what could this be about I wonder.)
Weekly Power Status
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