#8pods

Ooo, that's a good question. Let's break it up into canon/canon-adjacent and an AU where Eri, at baseline, isn't being tortured for her blood.

(Important note: 'Expendables' usually refers to the Eight Precepts + Chisaki, Kurono and Irinaka; they're all Expendables. Precepts or Eight would refer to the group of Eight that doesn't include Chisaki, Kurono, or Irinaka.)

Canon 'verse:

In a canon/canon-adjacent 'verse, I don't think the Eight interact with her at all; most (if not all) don't even realize she exists--although some of them suspect that their boss is hiding or just not talking about something--and if they find out later it's probably a huge test of their loyalty.

Kurono canonically interacts with her, probably regularly; he probably worries a bit over what they're doing to her, but as someone who grew up in a shitty abusive orphanage and then in the yakuza he doesn't exactly have a solid conception of what a healthy childhood is supposed to look like, so Kai's explanations of 'we're feeding her, we're giving her shelter, and we're leaving her alone except for getting her blood' satisfy him anytime he brings it up.

Irinaka has probably interacted with Eri a few times, but not frequently or regularly. He also doesn't have a solid conception of a healthy/normal childhood (tbh I don't think any of the Expendables do), nor does he fully realize what's going on with Eri.

Nemoto knows something's up--he's known Chisaki for years at this point, and can tell when he's getting cagey, but he can't get the answers out of him. If he were to stumble across Eri in person, however, he'd probably put some very concerning pieces together almost immediately and end up demanding answers instead of just gently nudging like he usually does--as cynical as he is, and as much hope as he gave up while on the streets, he still doesn't like it when children get hurt. And part of him thought that Chisaki was better.

Sakaki knows that Nemoto thinks something is up, but doesn't worry too much. If he ran into Eri, he would not put the pieces together, and also wouldn't really know how to interact with her. He has...very limited experience with children. (Sakaki: So, uh...you want a beer? Nemoto: SHE'S FOUR)

Setsuno would probably realize some stuff--not as much as Nemoto, but enough to know that something fucky is going on. Unlike Nemoto, he'd be scared rather than angry, so instead of demanding answers he'd resolve to instead keep an eye on her, and try to visit her when no one else is around to catch him. Setsuno has (or had) several younger siblings and often helped his older sister care for them (yay parentification from having depressed and overworked parents), so he's a lot better with Eri and a lot more responsible when it comes to Eri than anyone else expected. He'd also trust Chisaki a lot less after that, which Chisaki would notice but not understand, and that might end up causing problems in the circle.

Hojo, I don't (yet) have a solid backstory for, so I don't have a clear idea as to how he would interact with Eri like I do for the three I've listed so far. I want to say he'd interact with her in a similar way that he interacts with Tabe, or at least he'd try to. He might put together some pieces or not, but he'd almost certainly tell the other members of the Trash Trio about her. Eri herself might be intimidated by how tall and big he is.

Tabe would be curious. I headcanon him as intellectually disabled and mute (which is a headcanon I probably stole from you), so he definitely wouldn't realize what's going on. I think he and Eri might get along well, although Eri would be curious as to the signs he makes and why he doesn't talk.

Katsukame would scare her at first, completely by accident, just because he's so big. He'd probably sit or lie down so as not to scare her so much, but much like Sakaki he doesn't have a lot of experience with children and wouldn't really know how to interact with her. It's kind of a coin toss as to whether or not he realizes she's in a bad situation.

Rappa, like Katsukame, is a Big Guy and scares Eri at first, but he probably wouldn't totally process like 'oh she's scared and hurt.' He's just as loud and boisterous as he is with anyone else, in part because like many of the other Eight he has very little experience with children, and that would scare her even more. He might even try to pick her up which...would not go well.

Tengai also has very little experience with kids. He also have very little patience with them, because he doesn't understand them and he's probably already tired from dealing with Rappa. He'd be fine with Eri while she's quiet and not bugging him with questions, which that might be the whole visit, but if she started grabbing at him or bugging him with questions about his mask or earmuffs or why he's got his eyes closed all the time he's out. Only later would he realize that maybe that little girl is in a not-fantastic situation.

A kinder AU:

Let's take this AU as something like canon divergent, where Eri and Chisaki were introduced in a way that didn't make Chisaki think he was being replaced as Pops' child and trigger the abandonment issues he's in deep denial about. Maybe she just wandered into Kai's side of the complex one day, or they met before the Quirk accident. Things would definitely be different in that AU.

pairing: dabi/pops (eight precepts of death) rating: mature word count: 2.3k summary:

a breath, a pregnant pause: “i’m not here to lecture you. would you mind if i borrow a light?”