"I won't allow it."
Aizawa said with a stern glare—directed right at Sam.
Sam was currently in Nezu's office getting his ass chewed by Aizawa.
Sam just glared back.
"Suzuki, why are you so determined to go on this work study? You know you're being hunted."
Nezu asked—sipping his tea.
"I have my reasons."
Sam coldly said.
"You were adamant about staying away from work studies, but now you want to do it with Mirko."
"Yeah."
"That's stupid. You are supposed to be logical. This is illogical."
Sam sighed as he felt his eye twitch in annoyance.
"Aizawa. I'm going to do this. Even if I have to sneak out of this godforsaken school."
Sam threatened.
Aizawa activated his quirk—trying and failing to intimidate Sam.
"In case you forgot, Suzuki, you are still technically a ward of UA, meaning that we are your legal guardians. That was a condition of your release from prison."
Aizawa clarified.
"Fuck you, Aizawa. And fuck the rules."
Sam said with spite.
Aizawa gritted his teeth in agitation.
"This wouldn't have to do with the Shie Hassaikai investigation, would it? Mirko submitted a request to have you take part in it. But it seems more personal for you. Right?"
Nezu questioned.
Sam held his tongue.
"What do you mean, Nezu?"
Aizawa questioned the little chimera.
Nezu gave a shit-eating smirk.
Sam felt even more pissed.
"So you want to join the Shie Hassaikai operation?"
Aizawa asked.
"Yes. That's all I'll tell you."
He admitted.
Nezu looked at him with his sharp eyes, looking for any hesitation.
He sighed.
"If I tried to stop you, you'd sneak out anyway, right?"
Nezu asked Sam.
He just nodded.
Nezu chuckled.
"I thought so. It seems I am unable to stop you. You are adamant."
"I am."
"Very well then. I'll approve. At least you will have other heroes watching over you."
"Nezu!"
Aizawa looked at Nezu with shock and disbelief.
Sam smirked at Aizawa—enjoying the hobo's anger.
"We have to worry about the League of Villains during this raid! If we bring him along, that would mean bringing the Pale Hand into it!"
"They are likely watching the damn school 24/7. Ra is likely the only operator deployed. However, it's only a matter of time before they start sending in the big guns."
Sam revealed to them, making them turn to him.
"Are you certain?"
Nezu asked with a worried frown.
"Positive. They already made their intent to retrieve me clear. They won't stop until they do it. If they can't get me because I'm here, they will bring in the heavy hitters and destroy the school if they must. Those monsters don't care in the slightest for civilian casualties."
Sam explained—feeling beads of sweat fall from his face as a memory of innocent women and children being fired upon by the child soldier unit under Timo's direct order.
He recalled the thrill his peers had when gunning down enemies. However, they never gave a shit about the innocent villagers who were in the crossfire.
Timo never complained about casualties as long as the job was done.
Only Sam and Zola acted with care when they fought.
But they still had to hear the screams and cries of children as they are gunned down. Something that would always haunt Sam.
He shook his head, getting those dark memories out of his head. He had to keep his mind sharp.
"Look. I understand this is risky. But I promise you they won't just sit around much longer. I need to see this through. My soul is screaming at me to do this."
Sam looked Aizawa dead in the eye when he said that.
Aizawa just stared at Sam's unwavering resolve.
He could only sigh.
"Fine… but you are to not go off on your own. I will keep an eye on you."
Sam clicked his tongue at that, but nodded.
He was already done with this conversation.
"Then we're finished. I'll get ready."
Sam walked out the office—not looking back.
He needed to do this.
'Shie Hassaikai… was it you?'
Sam was going to find out.
———
"Huh? Sam?"
"Sup."
Sam walked out the front door of the school and saw before him Izuku and Kirishima—both wearing their uniforms.
Sam walked out wearing the shirt and pants as messily as always.
"Sam! What's up?"
Kirishima waved.
Sam nodded at him.
Both Midoriya and Kirishima noticed that Sam seemed to be lost in thought.
"Are you going to a work study? Me too!"
Sam just nodded at Kirishima's question.
"Huh?!? G'morning! You guys, too?"
A bubbly voice came from behind Sam who briefly looked over his shoulder and saw both Uraraka and Asui also leaving the school.
They all realized they were going to the station.
Some hero saw them and decided to take them there.
Then, they learned that they were all on the same train.
"Huh? All on the same train? I thought you were based in Kansai, Kirishima."
Midoriya noted while they all swiped their train passes and entered the station.
"I am! We're meeting up somewhere different than usual today!"
He replied.
Sam ignored their jabber. He was too lost in his thoughts.
He heard them talking as they got on the train, but ignored their conversation.
'Mom. Dad.'
He recalled the memory of his two parents.
He recalled how much they loved him. How much they sacrificed for him.
'Hiro and Anna Suzuki. I already have come to terms with the fact they are dead. I remember my mom dying. That… was something I recalled in Africa… but why is there no record of them?'
Sam thought about the odd disappearance of his parents.
When he was being booked after tearing up the city, the police obviously looked into his family.
They found no trace of them. At the time, he had no idea about their names, but they still should have been able to find them. Especially considering his mother was American.
'Were they completely erased?'
Sam grabbed his head as he felt an ache in his skull.
"Sam? You okay?"
He is brought out of his thoughts by the concerned voice of Uraraka.
He looked up and saw her, Tsu and the rest looking at him with concern.
"Yeah… slept funny."
He deflected.
They didn't believe it, but decided to focus on their jobs.
Much to their surprise, they all got off at the same stop.
Then, they started heading in the same direction.
And when they turned the corner, they saw three familiar faces.
"Hiya."
"Hey."
"…"
Sam and the rest saw the big three standing before a building.
"Huh…"
That was all that Sam could say seeing all of them standing in front of the same building.
———
"Yo!"
"Rumi."
"Ahem!"
"Sorry. Mirko."
"Right on!"
Sam was greeted by Rumi, dressed in her hero outfit.
The moment he entered, he was met with many heroes—one being his girlfriend.
She asked him to call her Mirko when she was on the job, so she wasn't pleased he called her Rumi when he first entered.
""What the heck… IS this?!?""
Behind him, he heard his classmates looking at all the heroes in surprise.
Sam didn't bother with them as he walked up to Rumi.
"So, did I miss anything?"
He asked her.
"Nah. Ya made it right on time!"
She said with her cocky smirk.
Sam nodded.
He looked next to her and saw a beautiful blonde heroine with a strange mask on her head that made her look like a giant claw was grabbing her head. She was wearing a red dress.
"So, this is Sam Suzuki. I can see why Rumi likes you. You're quite fit for your age."
"Ryuko."
Rumi growled at the blonde heroes teasing.
"Does she know?"
Sam asked Rumi as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh? Know what?"
"Nothing!"
That answered that.
Ryuko just chuckled as if she already had an idea about her relationship with Sam.
"Hey, hey! What are we doing here?!? I know you said something about a meeting, but what is it?"
Nejire popped out of nowhere and jumped into Ryuko's arms.
"You'll find out soon. Shall we begin, Nighteye?"
Ryuko—not surprised by Nejire clinging to her—asked the organizer of the meeting.
The moment the meeting began, they were all met with a serious looking man with glasses and a yellow suit.
'So that's Nighteye. I expected more from All Might's supposed sidekick. He is definitely skilled. But even I know he over relies on that quirk of his.'
Sam thought as he stared at the man before him.
"Thanks to the intel provided by all of you, we're making great strides in this investigation."
He started.
"The small organization known as the Shie Hassaikai is plotting something. I've called you all to this discussion… to share with you exactly what we know."
Nighteye declared as everyone tensed up.
Sam looked around at the rest and saw a few familiar faces.
One he was most unpleased with was Aizawa.
Another was the old man Gran Torino.
Last time Sam saw him was the night he knocked the stuffing out of Stain.
Interrupting his analysis, was a blue girl in what Sam could swear was without question the sluttiest hero outfit.
He could only deadpan at the sheer stupidity of her outfit. Her top literally stopped at her underboob.
'She's worse than Midnight. How many times have her knockers freed themselves from that stupid outfit?'
Sam thought before he felt Rumi elbow him harshly.
He looked at her and saw her glaring at him with a 'keep staring and find out' look.
Sam put his attention on the table, suddenly finding it more interesting than the underboob.
"For the past two weeks or so, here at the Nighteye agency… we have been, uh… conducting an independent investigation… of the designated villain group known as the Shie Hassaikai!"
The blue girl announced.
"What started this?"
Some random hero asked.
"An incident involving a band of thieves called the Reservoir Dogs."
The blue hero replied.
"Like the Tarantino movie?"
"Yes! Exactly like the Tarantino movie!"
Sam asked and she replied.
"Ahem!"
Nighteye interrupted them—seeing they were going off topic.
"Sorry, sir…"
She meekly apologized.
What Sam could gather from the details, was that the Shie Hassaikai have been getting more funds from contacts with the criminal underworld.
"U.A. Students or not, what are these kids doing here? They're just slowing us down."
A strange hero with a grouchy look spoke up and announced his displeasure with kids being a part of this.
"I know, right?"
Sam unconsciously pitched his thoughts.
He felt like the HPSC was abusing child labor nowadays. It reminded him too much of being a child soldier.
Sam's classmates all felt betrayed by his words.
He looked at them with an emotional look.
"Hmph. What about you?"
The hero, Rock Lock, asked.
Sam turned to him with an annoyed expression.
"I'm almost 19, prick."
Sam admitted to everyone.
Some heroes raised an eyebrow at that, some don't react—most likely because they already knew that.
Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, Asui and even the big three all stared at him with wide eyes.
He saw them staring at him with shock.
"What?"
He asked.
"Hey, Mirio… he's older than us."
Nejire whispered to Mirio.
"Yeah… weird…"
Mirio replied—still whispering.
"Wow… I didn't know you were that old, Sam."
"Mmhmm."
"Totally."
"Kero."
His classmates also decided to pitch in.
He looked at them with an unamused face before turning back to the blue girl, Bubble Girl.
He decided to refocus on the meeting.
After the bitching about the students being there came to an end, Nighteye revealed that the Hassaikai have been making a new drug.
Not the kind that are sold to junkies. This was a new and dangerous drug.
It was capable of erasing quirks.
Sam narrowed his eyes as he looked at the image of the bullet they recovered.
Apparently, Kirishima was shot with one, but because he was a walking brick, it did nothing to him.
However, it turned out Tamaki did get shot and was out of a quirk for a few days.
'Interesting. This bullet would have been great to have in Africa.'
Sam sighed—remembering all the brutal run-ins with vicious opponents with strong quirks.
What Sam heard next, shook him to his core.
Apparently, those bullets were made with human cells and blood.
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I see. I've seen this before."
Sam admitted.
Everyone turned to him in shock.
"What do you mean, Suzuki?"
Aizawa asked with narrowed eyes.
"It means what I said. Once, I had a mission in Burkina Faso, and the rebels there were using these poisonous gas grenades. They were like mustard gas, but more dangerous. It literally melted people from within. But when we researched the poison to counteract it, we learned that it was all made from human blood."
Sam's eyes looked dead inside as he brought that up.
Everyone stared in horror at this.
"We later found out they strapped a man to a chair and drained his blood whenever they needed some. He had a poisonous blood quirk. His blood was slightly toxic. But they experimented on it and made it more and more potent and made a bioweapon. We found the man still alive when the battle was over. He was literally a skeleton. Dried of all blood."
Sam's morbid story made everyone shiver in disgust.
The heroes sometimes forget that humans are capable of truly evil things.
"Ahem. Thank you for your insight, Suzuki…"
Nighteye said as he fixed his glasses and maintained his composure.
As the conversation continued, a breakthrough discovery was announced.
Apparently, the individual who had this bullet made from their own flesh, was none other than a child.
But that's not what Sam was focused on.
Right behind him, was a picture of a man. A man with a beak mask, dark purple hair and eyes of a monster.
"We believe that the bullets are being created from the flesh of the head of Shie Hassaikai's daughter. His name, is Kai Chisaki."
Sam gasped.
———
It was a few days after his birthday.
He spent it with his mom and dad, having a fun day. They even got him some cool All Might toys.
Sam enjoyed his birthday, but most of all, enjoyed being with his parents.
He was sitting in front of the TV watching All Might and playing with his new toys.
Behind him, was his mother, who was sitting on the couch.
His father was in the kitchen working on job applications.
His mother smiled seeing her precious child playing.
She felt bad because he never really got new toys, he only got hand-me-downs. But he never complained.
Seeing him smile and play made everything worth it.
Not long before his birthday, they went to meet with the Yakuza.
She was terrified, and begged Hiro many times to reconsider, but she was convinced that the boss was a fair and just man.
And to her surprise, he was.
When they arrived at their compound, they were intimidated by a bunch of armed men out front, but once they were asked for a meeting with the boss, they shockingly led them to him.
He was an elderly man, but still energetic.
He looked at the Suzukis with a scrutinizing look that terrified them.
But after pleading and promising to pay back their debts, he walked over to them and gave them a reassuring smile.
He just gave the money without any hesitation.
To make it even better, he wouldn't raise the interest. This meant that they could take their time and wouldn't need to worry about the interest rates rising.
When asked why, he just said 'I have a good eye for people. You people are trustworthy. I believe you will pay me back. But for now, show your boy a good birthday.'
She teared up when she heard that. It was good to know good people still existed in this cruel world.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard the knocks.
Anna stood up, but Hiro looked at her with a smile.
"I got this honey."
She nodded.
Hiro put his reading glasses on the table and walked to the door.
Sam watched him with interest, wondering who could be visiting.
Hiro opened the door and Sam couldn't see who it was from where he was sitting.
"Oh, it's you. The young man by the boss's side. Is there an issue?"
He heard his dad say.
SPLAT!
Suddenly, the upper half of his father's body exploded into blood and guts, staining the walls crimson.
Sam and Anna watched as his legs collapsed to the ground and blood spewed from his lower half.
Sam's eyes lost all light. He just stared at the gory scene with disbelief.
His childish mind was too shocked to even comprehend what he was seeing.
He was still sitting on the ground, but he dropped his toy.
Anna also stared with disbelief.
But that lasted a moment.
"Hiro!!!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs as tears poured from her devastated eyes.
She shivered in grief and terror.
Sam was still unresponsive.
"Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. That was bloodier than intended."
A cold and young voice entered their ears.
A young man with purple hair and an ominous beak mask entered over his father's remains.
Each step made a splashing sound from the blood pool around his father.
Anna stared at the boy with shock.
"Y-you! W-why d-did you…"
She could hardly make a coherent sentence.
"The boss is too soft. You are all taking advantage of his generosity and obviously have no intention of returning what was lent. He wouldn't listen to me, so I have to handle it myself. I just need to get rid of you."
He said with no emotion.
Behind him, some other men in beaked masks entered.
The boy pointed at her and one of the men responded by pulling out a pistol.
Anna hurried to Sam, desperate to get him out of there.
She picked him up and tried to run.
Bang!
"Ahhh!!!"
She screamed as she and Sam fell.
Sam was still completely catatonic.
Then he felt pain as he fell down, and his mother fell on top of him.
Despite the pain, she got up again.
She felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, but fought through it.
"It's okay baby, mommy will keep you safe."
She whispered.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three more shots were fired right into her back.
"Gah!"
She finally collapsed, right in front of her son, who was staring at her with shaking eyes.
"Sammy… Mommy loves you so much…"
She stared at him with tears streaming from her eyes, before she finally let out one final breath.
Sam just stared at her lifeless eyes, his eyes wide and unresponsive to anything.
He couldn't even make a coherent thought.
He just sat on the floor where his mother dropped him, and stared at her bleeding body.
"Mommy?"
He said—trying to wake up from this nightmare.
"Boss. The kid they mentioned is here."
The man who shot her was right over his mother and was looking at the young man.
The young man put his glove back on his hand and walked over to the stunned Sam.
He casually walked over her body and stood right above him as he stared at her body.
"So? Why is he still alive? Kill him."
He said as he turned around.
"Boss, but I got word from some friends in the trafficking business, that a certain organization is looking for quirkless kids. They are buying them for very generous prices."
The man explained to the young man, who raised an eyebrow at that.
"Hmm… that's intriguing. Why would they want quirkless kids?"
He asked.
"I don't know. All I know is that some overseas group has been buying them in large numbers. Only strong looking ones. Doesn't this kid look sturdy for a brat?"
The man gestured to the unresponsive Sam.
The young man walked back to Sam and grabbed his face.
He made him look him in the eye.
He looked at the broken child before him and saw a flicker of life still in his eyes.
Despite the obvious trauma, he was still conscious. He was just in shock.
"What do you think, Kai?"
The man asked with a greedy smirk behind the beaked mask.
"Fine. I'll leave it to you. But under no circumstances will anything be revealed to the boss. The family took the boss's money and ran. That's the story. We will use the funds from selling him for the research."
The boy, Kai, ordered.
"You still trying to 'cure' quirks Chisaki-sama?"
Another man came into view. He was young too and had a beak mask just like Kai. He also had what looked like clock hands in his hair.
"It's what we must do. Quirks are a disease. They must be culled. Go. Get rid of him. Bring the money to me, not the boss. He will never know anything of what happened today. Am I clear?"
He ordered once again.
""Yes, Sir!""
Both men bowed with respect.
Kai turned and left, giving the boy one last glimpse before walking away.
He was roughly picked up and dragged out the house.
He watched as his mother's corpse left his line of sight and then he saw his father's gruesome remains.
He would then be brought to a broker who would introduce the man to another man in a bulletproof vest with a white handprint on it.
"Hmm… interesting."
The man kneeled in front of him as he was staring into nothing, completely unaware of his surroundings.
"Tch. He's totally out of it."
The man determined—standing up.
The man who killed his mother would then begin haggling with him, until finally, he was sold.
"A pleasure doing business, Homura-san!"
The man giddily bowed and took the check from Homura, who just sighed.
"Fuck it. I don't get why boss is so interested in these lowlife brats. But, whatever. He's coming with me."
And just like that, Sam would be sent to Africa, where his life would only be a hellish nightmare.
———
"Ha…haha…"
Interrupting the meeting was a cold and twisted laugh.
The heroes turned to the source and saw Sam, shaking and holding his head with one hand.
"Suzuki?"
Nighteye asked, disturbed by his ominous laugh.
Rumi turned toward him.
"Sam?"
She asked as she put her hand on his shoulder.
Everyone else looked with concern as well.
"Hahahaha… ha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Suddenly his laughter erupted into a maniacal laugh.
Everyone flinched from the sudden laughter.
Sam just stared at the picture with a large and cruel smile as he laughed.
However, Nighteye—being an observant man—noticed his eyes held no amusement. Instead, they held tremendous hatred.
"So… it was you… Kai Chisaki… hehehe…"
Sam said as he glared at the picture, his eyes bloodshot and veins popping out of his head.
Rumi stared at him and backed away.
This wasn't the man she fell for.
This was a monster.
Izuku and the other students were shivering at the sheer maliciousness in his voice.
Before anyone could question him, he turned around and walked out of the building.
He ignored the voices telling him to stop and walked away.
His smile was gone at that time.
All that remained was a cold and cruel frown.
'Kai Chisaki… I'll have your head.'
He thought as he walked away from the building.