Ashes to Ashes, Power to Power: Chapter 12

“You…you want me to…to be your sidekick?”, I asked, wanting to be sure as Yoroi Musha nodded while Fat-Gum gave a thumbs-up from behind the man, quickly dropping his hands and smiling when Yoroi glanced at him.

“Yes, you have potential and unlike many young heroes, you have already faced real combat. That and you adapt quickly compared to most of my apprentices. My agency could use someone like you.”

“Well, that's…I'm honored, sir. Truly, but I'm already a member of Fat-Gum's agency. I can't just-”

“I have already spoken to Fat-Gum,” The man cut me off with a small smile and I glanced at the man in question, who shrugged.

“I said it was your choice. Honestly, if you picked me over Yoroi, I'd be more than happy to keep you on the team. However, working with the old man here would open so many doors that I can't offer you. You'd get exclusive training, connections and hell, you'd probably get direct exposure to how the top pros operate.”

“But…I still want to help with the whole Liberation Army thing. I don't want to leave when we're so close to cracking the case.”

“Oh, don't worry about that. Every hero in Japan is currently helping with that case so Yoroi and his group will be involved as well. You'll just be working from Kamkura, where Yoroi's agency is, instead of from Osaka and the former is a lot closer to Musutafu than the latter,” Fat-Gum answered with a smile and I looked between the two men before scratching the back of my head.

“Before I accept, I have one question and I wish for you to be honest, Mr. Yoroi. Why exactly are you recruiting me?”

“Like I said, it was for your capabilities that-”

“It's not my capabilities. You're said to be a man that has very rarely taken on a sidekick and/ or apprentice even after hundreds make requests to join you on a monthly basis. Perhaps with me having absorbed an explosion, that put me in the spotlight and you wish to use that to boost the standing of your own agency, hmm?”, I asked, watching as the man simply stroked his beard while Suneater and Fat-Gum glanced at each other.

“Hmm, I suppose I did say that I would tell the truth. Yes, I wish to use you to boost the standing of my agency.”

“Okay, then. When do I start?”, I asked with a smirk, laughing as Yoroi let out a surprised noise at my words while Fat-Gum and Suneater looked confused as well.

“You are not going to decline?”

“If you said that you were doing it out of the goodness of your heart, I would have known that it was a lie and I would have said no. However, you were completely honest with me and a man that is honest about his truths and lies is a man I'd like to follow into battle.”

“You are either very cunning or very reckless.”

“From what I've seen, it's more the latter than the former,” Fat-Gum chimed in, making me grin as Yoroi nodded before placing his hands behind his back.

“I suppose I'll have to see for myself. Report to my agency in Kamakura by the end of the week and bring your official license with it. I will make sure your transfer papers are sent through the Hero Commission by tomorrow.”

“Understood, sir,” I spoke with a small bow, the man nodding in response before he turned and walked out of the office with Gari following after him.

“…Well, looks like you're already moving up in the world, huh?”, Fat-Gum spoke with a smile and I nodded as I stared at the door where he just left.

“Yeah. One moment, I'm nervous about asking to join your agency and the next, I find myself being recruited by one of the top then heroes in the country.”

“Eh, that's how the job is. By the way, don't forget us little guys when you get recruited by All-Might or something,” The man spoke with a smile and I rolled my eyes before looking at Tamaki who smiled.

“Sorry I couldn't take you to that one BBQ joint I wanted.”

“I-It's okay. I'm sure there will be time later.”

“Actually, there are no patrols right now so…”, Fat-Gum trailed off and I grinned as I looked to Tamaki, wrapping an arm around his shoulder while laughing as he let out a groan.

“What are we waiting for, then? Also, you're paying Fat-Gum!”

“But of course! To the food we go!”

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Hero Agency: Yoroi Musha's Agency

Hero Name: The Omni Hero- Forge

Status: Sidekick

Clearance Level: 3

'Other than the Hero Agency changing, nothing else had changed,' I thought with a hum as I stared at my new license, my old one having been taken by Fat-Gum since I wasn't a part of their agency group anymore.

It was a shame too as I was really bonding with the group there, but I suppose I can just make some new friends.

'All right, Kevin. It's just making some new friends. It's not that hard,' I thought with a frown as I sat on my motorcycle, ignoring the cars that passed while staring at the staircase that went under three torii gates up and led to the shrine above..

Apparently, Yoroi Musha does not have the standard complex that he uses as an office, but instead used the shrine that has been in his family for generation as a base of operations.

“Woah, look. It's Forge.”

“Forge?”

“You know, the guy that stopped the bombs by absorbing it?”

“Whe-Holy shit, it is him! Hey, Forge! What's up?!”

“Everything's fine with me! You guys doing good?!”, I shouted back with a grin at the group of teens, chuckling at their excited thumbs-ups and nods before climbing off the bike and activating the security system on it.

It was still the same one, but instead of it being just a bike up the ass, said pipe now also had an electric current running through it as well as hook spikes that curled downwards to make sure that whoever wanted to get off would have a very hard time doing so.

Was it villainous to do this? One hundred percent, but unfortunately, one had to be sure that no gang tried to steal it.

With a deep breath and pushing that thought back, I began making my way towards the steps, nodding and smiling at the people I passed while continuing onwards to my destination.

The longer I walked up the steps, the more my eyes narrowed as I felt someone watching me, still greeting the people I passed even as my entire being was on high-alert.

'This is most definitely a test. Perhaps on wariness or caution when approaching an unknown terrain. Yoroi Musha is said to have the mindset of a traditional samurai so the caution is something I expect,' I thought as I passed the last and final gate, noting how everyone stopped at the third gate and looked surprised when I continued.

“Who are you?”

“Son of a maggot burger!”, I jumped at the voice that spoke from beside me, turning only to blink at the sight of a humanoid owl with boobs, an iron staff in her left hand and dressed in a black bodysuit that hugged her form.

'Wait, am I actually checking an owl out? She is a human-owl, but I guess I'm getting used to the world.

“…Hello?”

“Who are you?”

“I'm Forge and I'm supposed to be the new sidekick.”

“That would explain why you continued walking onwards like a buffoon instead of turning back like most people would.”

“May I know your name?”, I asked, a bit amused at her words as she looked at me before nodding.

“I'm Nightwing, Yoroi Musha's apprentice and one of his six sidekicks. Well, seven if we include you.”

“…Don't most top ten heroes have more than a dozen sidekicks on average?”

“As the student/ sidekick that has been with him the longest, Master Yoroi likes to have seven sidekicks because he bases his hero identity on the warrior monk by the name of Saito Musashibo Benkei or by his mononym of Benkei. The monk used seven weapons: the masakari (broad axe), the kumade (rake), the nagigama (sickle), the hizuchi (wooden mallet), the nokogiri (saw), the tetsubo (iron staff) and the naginata (Japanese glaive). Thus, the seven sidekicks.”

“And I'm guessing one either quit or left to start their own agency?”, I asked, nodding as she nodded while gesturing for me follow after her.

“Yep, I'm the iron staff and the broad axe left the agency to start his own, which is the moniker you're going to get.”

“Ah, got it. So, how is life as Yoroi Musha's sidekick?”

“You understand that approximately 347 people apply monthly for the position of one of his seven apprentices and not one of them get in, right? That should tell you enough of how life is with him.”

“Yeah, guess this is gonna be fun.”

“No, you either thrive or you break. Master Yoroi doesn't tolerate anyone that is mediocrity, but perhaps your reckless acts will help you fit your role as axe.”

“Got it,” I murmured as we walked past the courtyard and towards the main building, Nightwing opening the wooden door to reveal six figures waiting patiently.

The owl-woman walked over and sat down at the right side of Yoroi Musha while I closed the door behind me, turning to see everyone staring at me with stoic looks.

“Welcome. Take your seat,” He said while gesturing to the spot where an iron broad axe laid next to the woman that had an iron saw over her legs, to which I nodded as I walked over and sat down in seiza just like everyone else.

“The Seven Weapons of Musha are now complete once again. Everyone, this is Kevin Nagatomo, his hero name being Forge and he shall be taking the Masakari position from this day forward.”

“Let's hope he doesn't leave as quickly as the last one did.”

“Quiet, Temptress,” Nightwing spoke with a frown to the woman with the saw beside me, to which she scoffed while Yoroi Musha cleared his throat to stop it from developing in the fight.

“Nightwing, Temptress, enough. Forge, from today forward, you shall be a member of the Seven Weapos. You shall observe from your betters and you shall learn to be diligent and aware, even in the most mundane of tasks.”

“I understand,” I spoke with a bow of my head, but I did feel a bit off as the other six Weapons smirked while Yoroi nodded.

“Good. Now, it is currently 10 AM and the agency closes at 8 PM. During that time, your first day will be to clean the shrine floors from top to bottom.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, really. As you clean, you will observe and as you observe, you will learn. Gollem will supervise and tell you which areas are off-limits. Once you are done for the day, you will return tomorrow for basic Quirk training and patrol with Gollem as your patrol partner.”

“Is the Quirk training because I unlocked my Quirk only a couple of months ago?”

“Yes, you did not undergo the usual Quirk control training, did you?”, He asked, nodding as I shook my head before I watched as the tallest member of the group stood up.

He was more lanky than muscular as his arms were a bit out of proportion, but as he picked up the giant wooden hammer on his lap with his left hand like it weight nothing, I realized that this guy might have more strength than I was expecting.

“Gollem, Forge, you are dismissed,” The man spoke and I stood up, picking up my axe with a grunt and both hands before following Gollem out of the room.

“So…you wanna talk or-”

“No talking unless it's needed. I get a dry throat too quickly.”

“Ah, cool, cool. …That's a lie, wasn't it?”

“One hundred percent. I just don't want to talk right now,” He answered with a smirk as we walked to the smaller of the three other buildings that was on the premises with the shrine.

Opening the door, Gollem took out a mop and a bucket and tossed both at me, making me struggle as I quickly dropped the axe to catch them both.

“Rule No.1: Your weapon is always in your left hand until you need to sit down, in which case you lay it across your lap. Rule No.2: Master Yoroi is not a fan of small talk just like most of us here so unless it's something really needed, we just hang around with each other in silence. Rule No.3: If you missed breakfast, you will be force-fed twenty eggs and then forced to run twenty laps around the courtyard.”

“That doesn't sound so-”

“Regular laps, backwards laps, handstand laps and then zigzag laps. Basically, the last one is that you run while doing sidesteps and yes, that is 20 laps for each of those.”

“…I stand corrected. Anything else?”, I asked and the man hummed as he scratched his chin before shaking his head.

“Nah, that's about everything. Now, follow with the bucket. It's time to start cleaning.”

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“Hey~ Look who it is~! Did you forget about us now that you're a big-shot on the TV, eh Forge?”, Toga asked with a teasing smile as I walked into the gym, rolling my eyes at her words while dropping my bag in my locker.

“No, I've just been a lore more busy and the agency I was with was far so I didn't have time after the job to come here.”

“Right, with Fat-Gum's agency, rig-Wait, what do you mean the agency you were with?”, She asked with a narrowed eyes and I just smirked as I caught the gloves she tossed at me while following her into the back gym.

“Well, I was with Fat-Gum, but I got a better offer and with his encouragement, I took it.”

“Okay, and who made said offer?”

“Yoroi Musha.”

“…Yoroi Musha? The No. 8th Hero in the country? That guy?”

“Yep,” I answered as we walked into the back gym, smirking at Aizawa doing a rapid barrage of punches and dodges that looked smooth yet powerful.

“…Well, damn. You're moving up quick in the world, but something tells me that you weren't picked for your skills.”

“Don't worry. Yoroi admitted that he wanted to use my fame and I'm going to use him for as much as I can. His connections and training should help boost me through the rankings.”

“Ah, a symbiotic business relationship, huh? Nice. Hey, Eraser! Guess who's here?”

“Considering you look a lot more happier than before, I can guess who it is,” Aizawa spoke with a sigh as he turned around, making me smirk as I put on the gloves while walking to the sandbag hanging beside the one he was punching.

“Of course. How have you been?”

“The same as it is every other day. I wake up, get irritated at the children I teach, get irritated at the idiot that works for me, go on a patrol and go sleep.”

“You forgot to add in taking a nap whenever you can because you forget to sleep sometimes,” Toga added with a smirk as she held the bag, my gaze focusing on it before I threw the first punch.

“Don't you start. Anyway, how was your first day at Yoroi's?”

“As good as it can be. I was just left with cleaning, but I didn't mind it considering it gave me time to think about what I have planned in Yoroi's group.”

“You're not going to stay there for long, are you?”

“Of course not. Like I said, they're simply a way for me to get fame and some cash before I start my own agency.”

“Hmm, if you do make one, I'll join,” Toga spoke with a smirk as I landed a right hook, making me raise an eyebrow before I looked to Aizawa who shook his head.

“Believe me, don't. Anyone else would be better.”

“Oh, you're just scared you'd lose your sidekick?”

“Of course I am. I don't want to wake up early and be forced to do the paperwork in the morning,” Aizawa grumbled as he laid down on the floor, making me snicker as Toga huffed at his words.

“Anyway, I just acme to say that I might not be coming for the next couple of days. I have my first patrol tomorrow and I'm not sure what's going to happen.”

“Oh, something is definitely going to happen. It's mandatory for something to happen on everyone' first patrol in a new area.”

“…I hope you didn't just jinx it.”

“She definitely did. Good luck,” Aizawa murmured and I looked at Toga who gave an innocent smirk before shaking my head as I focused back on the punching.

Hopefully, nothing happens…Oh, who am I kidding? Something is definitely going to happen.

A/N: And we're ending it off here~!! A bit of a short one and not much going on, but this is to help me set up the next big arc, which is going to be the one that takes place during the time period between these six months before the U.A. exam.

Anyway, next chapter: Countering the Liberation.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!