Detective Midoriya

Chapter 30

"Full house!" Magne crowed, slamming her hand down onto the table. "I take this round."

"Not quite," Izuku said, slowly laying his own hand on the table. "Royal flush."

"How?!" Twice demanded. "How do you always do this?! You seriously suck."

"Are you sure you don't have a luck quirk?" Mr. Compress asked, rolling one of his marbles between his fingers.

"I'm as quirkless as the day I was born, you're all just pansies," Izuku said, thinking of Saito's cutthroat playing style – it was well known that she cheated, they just hadn't figured out how yet.

"If you joined us—"

"I don't want a quirk, Shigaraki," Izuku interrupted. "I also don't want to know how you feel so confident in continuously offering me one."

"You don't want to stay with us forever?" Toga asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"I'm very happy as a police officer. But that brings me back to why I'm here. Are you willing to meet with Overhaul?"

He stared down at Shigaraki for what felt like an eternity until the man sighed. "Take him to the warehouse tomorrow evening. I'll talk to him, but I make no promises to work with him."

"That's all I can ask. And I need to warn you, don't do anything to seem aggressive to Overhaul. Don't act like you're going to attack him or his people. I don't want to explain why I'm planning your funeral. And obviously, act like you don't know me. If my cover is blown, you guys get to plan my funeral."

"We'll be careful, Izuku," Toga cooed, a dangerous glint in her eye. "After all, we still haven't gone on our first date yet."

"You know what, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Goodnight, everyone. I'll see you tomorrow evening. Remember, don't provoke them."

"I would never! Come on man, let me do something fun!" Twice said, slapping Izuku on the back.

"If you'll join the Yakuza even temporarily, it isn't such a stretch to think you might join the League of Villains. I'll hold out for you," Shigaraki said. Izuku had known the League long enough now that he recognized Shigaraki's roundabout way of saying he would miss him. Shigaraki was completely unpracticed in expressing any sort of positive emotions, so his attempts were always... odd.

"Don't hold your breath," Izuku said, flashing a grin. "I won't be at another poker night until this job is done, but when I come back be ready to leave."

Normally Izuku would never have stayed out that late, especially as this wasn't the most savory part of town. But with the sword at his hip and mask over his face, Izuku couldn't help but think that now he was one of the things that go bump in the night.

No one was keeping watch at the compound, which Izuku could only attribute to hubris. It was late, extremely late, but the light to Overhaul's office was on, which meant the man was awake.

He found his way there, pushing down anxieties that were surfacing. He had to be Deku, confident, douchey Deku.

"We need to be able to move into the mass production stage soon," Overhaul was saying when Izuku approached the door that wasn't quite shut. "We just need a way to ensure Eri's survival."

"That will be easier if we can convince the League of Villains to lend us Bubaigawara," Chronostasis said. "I don't know why you entrusted such an important task to Deku. We barely know the boy, let alone whether he can be trusted or not."

They moved on to safer topics, and he took that as his cue to interrupt. He knocked lightly on the door before sliding it open, doing his best to appear as if he'd barely gotten back. "Sorry for the intrusion."