Entrepreneurial Spirit - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

“I just don't know, this all seems a bit... dangerous,” Midoriya Inko stated with a frown as she looked over the proposed work contract.

Beside her, Izuku wilted slightly.

I nodded respectfully, taking a sip of my tea. I'd gone a bit traditional to subtly appeal to the mother's subconscious desire for familiarity and stability in a situation which was currently neither for her. “I completely understand that outlook. I won't lie and tell you that this situation isn't dangerous for your son-”

Izuku pursed his lips, shooting me a minutely betrayed look.

Fanning my fingers, I gave him a demure wave of my hand near the surface of the table, signaling for patience.

I knew how to make a sale, after all.

“-I very much doubt it will be any more dangerous than a simple walk down the street in your world.” Inko frowned, her brows knitting in confusion. “My point being, ma'am, that there are levels of 'danger' that we consider acceptable as a matter of course throughout our day that are only such because they are familiar. Unfamiliar dangers are magnified in their scope and scale as a result.”

Inko nodded, understanding my thrust. “Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Sterling, but that would be because we don't have coping mechanisms for dealing with them. That really is my worry here-” She looked to Izuku. “-taking my son out of-out of... his natural environment would expose him to things he doesn't understand how to properly...”

She seemed momentarily at a loss for words.

“Interact with?” I offered, picking up one of the snacks on offer and popping it into my mouth.

“I suppose that gets the point across,” Inko sighed, likely having been searching for something with more aggressive terminology without quite crossing into accusatory language.

Ah, Japanese politeness, such a cultural mainstay no matter what reality.

“While I won't pretend that I'm not going to be sending Izuku into situations outside of his... comfort zone, so to speak, that won't be my first course of action, either.” Inko took a sip of her own drink as I continued, patiently willing to at least hear me out in good faith. “Much like your hero schools, I plan for a timeline of acclimatization over the course of some months. Izuku wouldn't be venturing out into a substantially more dangerous or unfamiliar world alone within the first year of his employment, certainly.”

That seemed to appease the woman, at least a little bit. Still, she pushed a bit. “And you won't be going with him?”

I smiled sadly and tapped the table for emphasis. “Unfortunately, the owner of this establishment is forbidden from leaving the premises. That is why I employ individuals such as Izuku to run errands and make purchases in my stead.”

Mild interest sparked in her dark green eyes. “Izuku would have, um... coworkers?”

I paused, cocking my head. “There are a few part-timers that I could introduce him to, some even within his age-range, although Izuku would be employed under something more akin to a full-time position. He would be living on-site, here in the shop for the duration of his work periods, rather than living on his native world and simply coming in from time to time to supply my requests.”

“I have to admit, it is at least somewhat reassuring to hear this isn't a unique case,” Inko mumbled with a frown, then looked back up at me with dismay. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that, it's just...”

“This is our first meeting and you have no frame of reference for how I'll treat your son while he's under my care,” I nodded sagely, the woman relaxing. “While I'm not a parent myself, Mrs. Midoriya, I am not unfamiliar with the prospect of guiding young minds and keeping them out of trouble.”

Izuku and Inko both gave me an inquisitive look, the latter setting her cup down as she shifted in her seat. “If I may ask...?”

I chuckled and nodded. “I have a background in education. My degree is actually in it,” both Midoriya family members blinked, taken aback at the revelation. “That was before...” I waved a hand vaguely at our surroundings. “...all of this, you understand.”

Her face clearly conveying that she did not, but unwilling to pry too deep into my past lest she appear nosy, she nodded. “Hmm... If you don't mind, could I ask for further clarification on this 'signing bonus?'” She flipped a page and squinted at the document's print. “It says here you'll be teaching him magic. What will that entail?”

'Will' not 'would.' Good sign. Subconscious tell that indicates she's considering things in a positive light.

Izuku perked back up. “Ah... I wanted to ask about that, too.”

Taking another sip of my drink, I gathered my thoughts. “The exact school of magic I'll be teaching your son is known as 'magecraft.' I generally favor it because it has a highly-structured and formalized set of rules with well-known pitfalls and hazards.” Another frown of concern, one which I decided to head off by appealing to the familiar. “Much like quirk use in your world, learning magic or other supernatural skills comes with some inherent dangers, both for yourself and those around you. Magecraft is a particularly well-understood branch of practical metaphysics. As such, I can impart caution where it will be needed most while Izuku is learning.”

My cat-like eyes shifted to pin the boy with a piercing gaze. “Caution that he will heed, lest he violate the terms of the agreement and invalidate the generous bonus he's receiving.”

His green-haired head bobbed up and down rapidly.

It also helps that Fate-style mages, when they find their way to me, are already ideologically-inclined and primed to enter into negotiations for resources they can't easily acquire otherwise. At least, once they realize they can't just hypnotize or brute force their way to get what they want.

Inko's lips twitched upwards slightly, both in amusement and relief, and I could smell some of the stress pheromones she'd been giving off fade as I established myself as a reasonable and intelligent authority figure instead of some domestic con artist with a strange quirk or a fairy tale kitsune out to play a particularly cruel prank. “And what will he be capable of after learning this... magecraft?”

“I'll be focusing on the most basic skills after we activate his magic circuits and get him to the point where he's comfortable channeling energy through them. That alone should take between one to three months depending on various factors I'll take into account after personalizing his lessons.” I paused, rubbing at my chin thoughtfully. “During that period, we'll also cover a great deal of foundational theory such as Origin and Elemental orientation, testing to see if he can can develop any unique mystical traits, the basics of Breathing and Walking-”

“Um... that doesn't sound much like magic,” Izuku interjected, frowning. “I mean, the last one, it's just breathing and walking, right? I already know how to do that.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Ah, not quite. Magecraft treats the body as a holistic system of systems. Excellence in one area can magnify one's abilities in other areas. As such, while physical fitness-” Izuku winced at the invocation of those words as others would a foul curse. “-is not a necessity, it can be a valuable force multiplier in many situations.”

I paused for effect.

“Also, I want you to be able to run away if you get in trouble,” I added.

Inko giggled, the joke breaking the tension a bit. “I think that's a wonderful idea, personally.”

Izuku looked stricken. “Moo~ooom, I want to be a hero! Heroes don't run away!”

Inko sighed and looked at me with tolerant exasperation. Her glance very much read, 'See what I have to deal with?'

I merely huffed a quiet laugh.

“And I have no doubt you'll make a wonderful hero, Izuku,” Inko soothed him, the boy calming. “Once you finish school and are fully trained.”

Izuku slumped.

“Once you start teaching him, hmm... spells,” Inko began, mustering the resolve to speak the word in a serious context. “What will Izuku be able to do?” She grimaced and shook her head anxiously. “I don't mean to sound pushy or ungrateful, it's just that... as my son stated, this whole affair is intended to allow him to attend a hero school. I just want to make sure that, at the end of this, he isn't incapable of competing with his classmates. If you could give me an explanation that's inside my f-frame of reference, perhaps?”

“Certainly,” I nodded. “I will warn you that a great deal of his capabilities will be affected by whatever tendencies he has within the art that we discover once I begin teaching him. For instance, Izuku could very well have a capacity for healing-” Inko perked up, clearly enjoying that thought. “-that I would want to nurture over some lesser talent.”

“Healing would be good,” Izuku muttered, his mind spinning away with the possibilities.

“It would,” Inko nodded, the concept obviously appealing to her as well. “Doctors with healing quirks make a very good living, sweetie. I would imagine a hero license would increase even that.”

“Outside of the unexpected, though,” I continued thoughtfully, drawing attention back to myself. “The traditional standards are Gradiation Air, Alteration, and Reinforcement. Gradiation Air is a spell that forms the foundation of Projection Magecraft. That school is centered around creating short-term 'fake' objects that dissipate into energy after a set period of time.”

To emphasize my point, I allowed my circuits to flare as I outstretched my arm. Both Midoriya family members watched with wide eyes as a motes of light manifested before coalescing into the shape of a common pencil which dropped harmlessly into my hand. Passing it to them, I allowed the mother and son to inspect the mystically-created object. Izuku, in particular, was muttering rapidly about the possible implications of such an ability as he stared at it, entranced.

“Alteration is somewhat simpler to understand, if more complicated in the details of application,” I continued, holding up a cookie and concentrating as I channeled magic into it for a brief moment. Squeezing it lightly, I hefted it in one hand and then threw it against the floor such that it bounced off, hit the wall, and was catapulted into the air back into my hand.

I winked at Izuku and Inko before handing them the altered cookie. “I simply replaced one of its properties with the property of another material. In this case, I replaced the consistency with that of rubber. I would caution that it's probably not safe to eat-or, at least, chew right now.”

Inko and Izuku both laughed awkwardly, the latter still holding the fake pencil and altered cookie, “Y-you can really teach me how to do that? Both of them?”

“Within the first six months, certainly,” I nodded, Izuku's eyes sparkling as he caught the hint I was dropping. “But you'll be most interested in Reinforcement.”

“And what does... that spell do?” Inko asked intently.

“Oh, it-” I blinked, turning as I heard the metaphysical chime that signaled a visitor. This particular tone wasn't for someone new, but... “Hmm, excuse me, I apparently have a customer.” I blinked, turning back to the greenette duo. “Would you like to come and meet whoever it is? It would give both of you an idea of what Izuku has to expect while working for me.”

Inko pursed her lips, considering the question before nodding to herself and grabbing the contract on the table as she stood. “If we wouldn't be intruding?”

I smiled and shook my head as I stood, motioning them towards the cafeteria door. “Certainly not, especially if it is who I think it is. He'd absolutely love some company to talk to.”

Izuku blinked, suspicion and realization entering his eyes as I opened the door, Inko's eyebrows rising as we entered another part of the store than the one she'd been expecting. “I-I thought this would lead us back to where we came in?”

Slight worry etched itself in her tone as I put together a reply. “Ah, don't worry about that, Mrs. Midoriya. The exact landscape of my shop is a little... fluid, at times. The doors open to where you need to go and navigating them is more of an art than a science. I fully expect Izuku to get lost a few-” Dozen. “-times as he learns his way around.”

“And he won't run into anything dangerous while he does so?” Inko pressed, still worried.

I traded a look with Izuku as I replied. “Those areas are very clearly marked and Izuku doesn't strike me as the type to break an important rule without a very good reason.”

The mother smiled with pride at the compliment, while Izuku paled a bit at the implicit reminder of where he shouldn't go.

Turning a corner, I held up a hand at the man wearing a slightly-dirty set of casual sweatpants and t-shirt emblazoned with the old school NASA logo. He still looked very careworm, but substantially better than the last time, even as he wheeled in a sealed load of Martian rocks and sandy soil. The container was very obviously something which had been sent along on the mission, though the wagon it rested on was equally-obviously a hand-crafted creation.

“Mark, good to see you again!” I grinned widely.

The man jumped a bit, blinked as he took in my changed hair and tails, then the two people trailing behind me. “Ah... hey! Yeah, I just needed... well, I finished off the stew, thanks again for that, and, um... needed a few days to come to terms with everything.”

I approached him easily and extended my hand for a casual shake, which he reciprocated readily enough. “It can be quite a bit to take in, I understand. So, I take it this is for me?”

Mark nodded at my gesture towards the Martian rocks and soil. “Yeah, I figured I'd look over whatever I could get with this much and see about maybe getting another bath.” His eyes trailed off to my other guests. “If you're busy, then I could.... uhh, go ahead and do that?”

“Ah, where are my manners?” I asked rhetorically, then stepped out from between the astronaut and the mother and son. “Mark Whatney, meet Inko and Izuku Midoriya. They're from an alternate reality to yours where some humans started to develop superpowers in the early twenty-first century. Izuku is looking at a part-time job to pay off getting his own powers so that he can get into a hero-licensing program. Mrs. Midoriya? Izuku? This is Mark Whatney, through a series of tragic accidents, he's been stranded alone on Mars and is trying to work out a solution with NASA to get him back to Earth.”

The three newly-introduced people stared at each other for a long few seconds, before Mrs. Midoriya stepped forward and bowed politely, Izuku following suit a moment later. “It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Whatney and, I must say your Japanese is very good.”

Mark floundered for a moment before bowing as well. “Ah... it's nice to meet you too? And, um... I don't speak Japanese? I thought you were speaking English, actually.”

I chuckled and shrugged when all three stared at me. “I get customers from places you couldn't even imagine. It'd be a bit of a waste if they couldn't communicate, wouldn't it?”

Everyone blinked, taken aback by that point, but also readily acknowledging that it made sense even as I knelt to inspect the cargo Mark had brought me.

Hmm... probably not more than fifty pounds, let's see if there are any contamination or impurities...

Mark cleared his throat, looking between the two emerald-headed individuals. “So, um... you have heroes in your world? Like Batman or Ironman?”

Izuku opened his mouth for an instant reply, but stopped. “Ah... I don't recognize those two, Mr. Whatney, but we have plenty of others! Like All Might! He's the best! He's super-strong and can leap incredible distances! He actually trained in AmericabeforereturningtoJapanand-”

Mark chuckled, “Hold up there, little guy! He sounds awesome, but... ah, my world doesn't have any heroes. So he just... goes around saving people? Like comic books?”

Izuku's head bobbed up and down. “Yeah, like comics! He also fights villains and puts them behind bars. He has the most awesome quirk-that's what we call powers-and he's become the number one hero in all of Japan!”

Still evidently in mild disbelief, Mark nodded. “So if there's no classic comic book heroes... who's the number one in America since this All Might guy left?”

“Oh, that's Star and Stripe! She's amazing, too! I caught a report about her taking down a bunch of terrorists the other day and stopping them from blowing up a jail to bust out the parts of their organization that already got caught.” Izuku paused, catching his breath. “A-are you really on Mars? That must be incredible!”

“Izuku!” Inko scolded before looking to Mark. “I'm so sorry, Mr. Whatney. We don't mean to pry.”

Mark laughed tiredly, rubbing at his head. “It's fine, ma'am. I'm just... really glad I found my way here, now that I know I'm not just going space-crazy. My stockpiles of food are running a bit low and if Nova here can really help me out, it'd be a huge weight off both my shoulders and NASA's.”

“Oh, told them about me already?” I asked absently. “They might really think you have gone space-crazy.”

“Is that a real thing?” Izuku asked curiously, cocking his head at us.

“Totally/Oh, yeah,” Mark and I replied in synch, then exchanged a grin even as Inko crossed her arms to give us an amused, yet disapproving look.

“Ahh... yeah, haven't quite gotten around to explaining that I managed to open a hole in reality to buy food and tools from an interdimensional fox-man looking to buy martian rocks for wizards,” Mark laughed awkwardly, then looked at me. “Got any ideas on that front? I'm worried if I told them the truth, they might write both me and the rescue mission off, so I was thinking I'd just tell them I managed to get the potato farm up and running again until I could, ya'know, prove it.”

I considered the question for a moment, then nodded. “Probably for the best in the short-term. Now, why don't you head over to the baths and I'll get these properly weighed and parceled out. Remind me to give you a proper container. This one's alright, but it has a bit of contamination in it. I won't ding you this time, since you didn't know, but it's something to watch out for next time.”

Mark nodded seriously, sighing in relief.

“After you get done in the bath, we can all have a proper meal together and Mrs. Midoriya can see the nuts and bolts of how I run the shop with what you're looking to buy. That would give her a good idea of what Izuku is signing up for, how about it?”

Inko perked up at my question, then nodded. “That does sound like it would be quite the informative experience, yes.”

“Sounds good to me. The last time helped, but I can't imagine I smell too good right now,” Mark laughed, already edging towards the door.

“And Izuku?” I asked, catching the boy's attention. “I did tell you the Reinforcement spell would be what you were most interested in, correct?” He nodded and I grinned. “How about a demonstration?”

Firing up my circuits before he could respond, I lifted the large plastic box with an ease that clearly startled the teen, his eyes widening even as Mark's eyebrows rose in line with Mrs. Midoriya. Izuku, on the other hand, looked as though he'd just had a heavenly revelation.

“Super-strength,” he whispered reverently.

I smirked in reply. “Hah, for a given definition of 'super,' I suppose.” Hefting the box up further and beginning to move with it, I continued. “Reinforcement is a type of magecraft that multiplies a given property of an object. Depending on what you use it on, you can make a sword sharper, a rope harder to break, or your own muscles stronger. When you use it on yourself, you have to be very careful with it, but you can use it to mimic superhuman strength with enough precision and practice.”

Mark gave a low whistle and a thoughtful nod, sending me a longing look before beginning to walk away.

“Now, why don't I show you how to parcel these out and put a price on them while your mom watches? These aren't hazardous or anything, but it'd be a good chance to learn safe habits; exposing them to air or water in here will decrease their resale value.”

Eagerly following, I could already tell that Inko was firmly on the side of allowing her son to take up a part-time position. Which, if I was honest, I'd been a bit uncertain about at first, but was warming to the thought more and more. It would give me someone to talk to more regularly and add a bit of predictable routine to my life here in the store.

Hell, it might even cut down on the number of broken bones in the kid's future.

Probably not, but I could always hope.

~~~

Here's another new chapter!  I'm on a roll this week!

Hmm... next is probably going to be a return to the baseline Industrious story in Naruto, then... Winning Peace, probably.  I'll see about getting a third chapter out next week, too.

Until then, stay awesome and thanks again for the support!