Undercover

Chapter 2: Fateful Encounter

It was now February, two months had passed since the loss of Max and the two had moved to Japan. Toby spent much of this time with Nito and the rest of the time down in the basement with his many creatures. While Nito was at school, while he napped, whenever he could, he would be down in the basement. He no longer cared about being social with anyone outside of his family. He didn't see the appeal, it distracted him from his work.

While Nito napped, Toby sat in one of those awful metal folding chairs in the basement. He took a deep breath and looked around the room at all the creatures. "Alright," he said in a rough voice reminiscent of someone who had been screaming for the past several hours. "Ready to eat Mango?" He made his way over to a chest freezer. He listened to the soft hissing and chuckled softly.

As he prepared the mouse for the banana-color ball python he listened closely for the sound of his son, who'd been asleep on the couch upstairs. Luckily nothing could be heard. This gave him a sense of calm, things had started to get back to normal.

After feeding Mango and the others, he started up the stairs, stopping when he heard footsteps. He came to the conclusion that Nito must have woken up and kept walking. A smile spread across his face as he opened the basement door. "Heya, munchkin." he said.

"Munchkin? The hell you talking to you creep and shut it, you'll wake the kid up" a familiar voice said as the owner slipped off his sandals. "I got some work for you." He said and tossed his jacket onto the floor.

"Sandals and a jacket?" Toby asked. "What are you? 80?" He asked, walking to the kitchen. "As for the job," he filled a kettle and placed it on the stove. "I'm too socially drained..." He said. "That stupid buyer you made me meet up with is so stupid!" He yelled and groaned.

Nito rolled a bit and mumbled. Both men looked. "I told you to shut up." Conner sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're heading to Kurogiri's place and dealing with one of their mistakes." He explained as Toby poured both of them a cup of tea. "Idiot opened a portal to move some of his guys to a different location and some random kid fell out. You're a natural with kids so I volunteered you to deal with it." He sipped his tea.

"You what?" Toby glared. "Why? I have my own kid that I can barely take care of!" He put his cup on the table and groaned. "Conner..." he began. "I can't take in another kid. I have a difficult enough time separating my work for you and time for Nito." he frowned.

"You really think it would be different?" Conner asked as he sipped the tea. "If Max was still alive? Grow up Toby." he said slowly. "He's dead, not you, no one can change that. Sure you could have helped if you toughed up and stuck with him, he could still be here if you didn't stay home..." He began.

Toby frowned slightly as the older man spoke. He had thought about the topic a lot. If he'd gone with his husband would things have turned out differently? Would Max still be alive? Would they be in Japan? There were no answers or a way to find answers to his questions.

His cousins constant reminder of the event didn't help. A couple weeks prior to the conversation, Toby had been diagnosed with Moderate Episode of Major Depressive Disorder*. Even though Conner's rants on the matter didn't significantly affect his life, hearing them did not do him any favors either.

When his emotions became too overwhelming, he would sit around with Nito while watching movies. The medication he was on helped a lot and he was grateful to have it on challenging days. Even though the medicine did not always work, Nito would always be there for Toby to cuddle and talk to.

***Quick A/N: I do want to clarify that I have been diagnosed with 'Moderate Episode of Major Depressive Disorder' by my doctor. I intend to base his condition off of the way I personally deal with it. That being said, everyone deals with depression differently. Thank you for your understanding.

"...That's just the truth." Conner stated. "So stop being a twit and do your job. I'll watch Nito." He says, setting his cup down and giving Toby a sharp glare.

Toby cringed. "Fine..." he muttered and walked to the front door. As he slipped his sneakers on he looked at his sleeping boy. "Just let him sleep, he played hard with his friends today." He explained. Conner gave him a thumbs up and shooed him out the door. "Go" He sighed, stepped out into the sun and started his trek to the hideout.

He didn't want to deal with the idiots at the LOV. Essentially, they were a bunch of annoying children who weren't satisfied with the power they held. Having to deal with them gave him a headache. Between the entitled crusted psychopath who claimed to be the leader and the rest of his gang, there was virtually no chance to get anything done. Working with them was a waste of time.

He huffed as he kicked the door open. "What the hell did you freaks do?" He spat and glared. His eyes landed on the teen tied to a chair. Sharp purple eyes peered at him from beneath a white fox mask that rested on his face. His red-brown hair was tied in a messy bun. A thin katana leaned against the wall next to the blonde blood-crazed girl.

"Brat tried to kill us as soon as he got through." Shigaraki growled as he scratched his neck. "You psychopath..." he hissed and glared at the boy. The boy glared back.

Toby couldn't help but smirk a bit. The kid had guts and he could appreciate it. He made his way to the teen. He snatched the katana that Toga now held. He didn't trust her with any weapons. Then he slipped it into his belt after freeing the teen.

"The kid's a real monster with that katana," Shigaraki began, only to be interrupted by the teen. "It's a Nichirin Blade you hand demon!" he snapped coldly. "Whatever." 

Toby grabbed the boy's arm as he lunged at the crusty man. "Enough" he says calmly. "Walk." He commanded as he began to walk, dragging the teen next to him and only releasing his grip when they were outside. He slipped a cigarette between his teeth and lit it. "So," he said. "Who the hell are you?" He walks, motioning the teen to follow. 

"Jiro Ken..." he stated after a moment of hesitation then began to walk, eyeing the katana stuck in Toby's belt. "It's not going anywhere." He says and sighs. Jiro frowned, not trusting the man he'd just met. He looked around at the slums they walked through, at all the strange people. They made him uneasy. The people here had strange features that he'd never seen before.

Toby didn't take any notice of them. He chewed on a cigarette and blew some smoke as he said, "Kind of a basic name, what else?" He looked around and sighed. "I'm not about to give out all of my information." he glared. Toby let out a wheezy laugh. "That's a smart idea kid, don't know who you can trust."

Jiro looked at him and nodded slightly. "How..." he started. "Do I know I can trust you?" He asks slowly, moving away from the man. Toby let out another wheezy chuckle and took the cigarette out of his mouth. "You don't need to worry kid, I don't hurt kids." He smiled.

The two walked down the street. As Toby described the world to him, he explained that it was filled with people with incredible abilities and appearances. Toby stayed close to the teen, not trusting him fully yet .

Hello, Rider here.

First off I'm sorry that the chapter is so short. I'm planing on having a longer chapter in the future.

Second thank you so much for being patient with me. I should, hopefully, be back to working on this story more often. I'm in the 2nd term of my collage adventure and classwork is more important to me. I'm finishing up this chapter in class lol. This doesn't mean that I'm giving up on this story it just means that it's mot the first thing on my mind. Thank you for understanding.

Have a lovey day/night!!

<3