A Shadow of The Past 💥BakuDeku💥

Chapter 14

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Scars

Over the next few days, Katsuki made it a point to familiarize himself with the ins and outs of how the Twilight Market worked. It was an intricate web of corruption, greed, and power, where information was as valuable as the goods being sold. Each day he spent here, he peeled back another layer of the Market's twisted operations, studying how the criminals moved, how the deals were made, and most importantly, who held the power.

On the first day, after their unsettling introduction to the Market, Tokoyami had taken care of the essentials. They made a stop at a backroom tech shop on the fifteenth floor, where a man who clearly owed Tokoyami more than a favor had whipped up an ID with credentials for Katsuki. The ID listed him as "Ryuji Hozumi," matching his cover as the toxic-gas-quirk user with ties to low-level underworld operations.

Along with the ID, Tokoyami handed him a small black case. Inside was a portable quirk dampener, a sleek piece of tech the size of a credit card. Just like the one back in his office, it created a localized sound shield—a bubble of silence around him, masking any conversations or movements within a certain radius.

"You really won't need it unless you're meeting with reliable contacts," Tokoyami had said, his voice cool as he handed Katsuki the case. "This place is always listening."

Katsuki had snorted in response, tucking the dampener into his jacket. The sound shield made sense—there were eyes and ears everywhere in the Twilight Market, and the last thing they needed was someone overhearing something they shouldn't.

There was also a burner phone, a few other electronics for bypassing security measures, and parting words from Tokoyami that still echoed in his mind: "Be careful. There are eyes everywhere and nowhere."

That warning stuck with him. The Twilight Market had a way of making you feel like you were being watched, even when there was no one around. The walls, the cameras, the people—everything seemed designed to keep tabs on everyone's movements, and Katsuki had no intention of being caught off guard.

Tokoyami had also mentioned that he had contacts on some of the floors—people who could help Katsuki gather information or even hack into the sellers' databases if needed. But so far, Katsuki hadn't reached out to them. He preferred to operate alone, relying on his own instincts and skills to navigate the Market. Still, knowing the option was there gave him some comfort, even if he wasn't willing to admit it.

After Tokoyami had left him, Katsuki spent his first few days blending in, watching, listening, and learning. He tore through every floor he could access in the Twilight Market, trying to sniff out any trace of the League of Villains. He moved through the crowds with his head down, skulking like one of the scumbags he was pretending to be. His skull mask stayed on, and his eyes were sharp, but no matter how hard he looked, he kept hitting walls.

He was sure one of the League's lackeys would show up somewhere, maybe some loser buying quirk enhancers or sneaking around the black-market tech stalls. Katsuki had been staking out every shady deal, listening to every low conversation, but all he got was silence.

Nothing. Not even a whisper of the League, the serum, or ZENITH.

It pissed him off. There's no way these assholes weren't here.

They had to be working the Market somehow—maybe through buyers, maybe moving supplies. But they weren't showing their faces. And it wasn't for lack of effort. Katsuki stalked nearly every floor that was selling gear and chemicals, watching criminals barter over weapons, quirk enhancers, and black-market goods. Still, no League members, no familiar faces. Just a bunch of shady nobodies. And Katsuki was almost sure as hell they wouldn't be sending some random to collect supplies like it was a grocery run.