Chapter 10 The Avengers
Chapter summary: Investigation on the murder case. Suspects tracked down. And the Sludge wants his money.
Also known as...
A Cat, a Dog, and a Sludge.
AN: By the way, I changed the synopsis. Hope it's more interesting now.
It was near ninety degrees and Shouta questioned yet again why he had put himself through the torture that was kneeling on the scorching ground for over five minutes already while being barbecued by the glaring sun.
"Meowww"
And just like that, all his self-doubt disappeared. No matter how much he was sweating or how uncomfortable the way his suit was clinging to his body, as long as Shouta was in the company of cats, that was all it mattered.
With an indifferent face, Shouta wiggled the crested dogstail hoping the adorable cat would fall for it.
"Come on... just a little closer..."
The cat followed the plant's every movement. Slowly but surely, it began coming closer...
"Yes... come on..."
Shouta had a hand out ready to pet the cat when he heard a rustle behind him. Before he could stop the idiot, Hizashi jumped out of the bushes.
"BOOOOO!"
The cat screeched, all its hair sticking out like a pomeranian, then it dashed away.
"Hiiiiiizaaaashiiiiiii."
"EEK!"
Seeing his best friend slowly backing away from him as if he was his worst nightmare brought a sense of satisfaction within him.
"Sorry! I didn't mean it!" Hizashi clapped his hands together and bowed his head, his expression truly remorseful.
Shouta sighed. He dropped the dogstail and stood up, swaying slightly when the extent of the heat finally hit him.
"Shouta, you okay?" Hizashi rushed to support him.
"I'm fine." Shouta pushed him away gently and started dragging himself towards the auditorium. The moment he pushed open the door, cold air brushed past him ruffling his hair and he let out a content sigh.
"That's why I told you not to go outside in this heat. What if you passed out? You would've failed the examination!"
"You would have woken me up with your scream before they would fail me."
"...uh. Fine, you win."
The auditorium was filled with applicants applying for the teaching positions. UA rarely, if ever, fire its teachers because they were all picked after careful considerations, so it was also extremely rare for it to have a spot open, hence why so many people came all the way here in this blazing heat just to have a chance at it.
Shouta and Hizashi sat down against the wall with two applicants next to them. Together they formed Group C. The written exam was already over and now was time for the practical portion, and then came the interview. It was common knowledge that most people were eliminated during the practical portion. Apparently, they would be given some type of scenario and they would either pass or fail according to the actions they took. The scenarios differed for each group so no one could cheat.
Group B had already entered the examination room, which was soundproof for obvious reasons. Very soon it'd be their turn.
"Do you think Ectoplasm would be one of the examiners?" Hizashi nudged him slightly.
"I don't know. I didn't think about it."
"Well, think about it then."
"It doesn't matter. It's not like we'll get an easy way in if we knew one of the examiners. UA isn't that type of school. And Ectoplasm isn't that type of person."
"You're right."
Both of their phones buzzed at the same time with a new message alert. Shouta took out his phone with a lazy glance, and instantly tensed up and widened his eyes when he saw the content.
Ai︎CoCo: Help! viklain aftackmy housr?!
"Shit." Hizashi cursed. "What should we do?"
Shouta didn't speak. He continued staring at the words, letting it sink into his head, rereading it as if that would change what it said.
"Shouta?"
Shouta exited the app and dialed Shimura Aiko's phone number. Once... Twice...
"She didn't pick up?"
"It says she's in a call right now."
"Call her again, then!"
Shouta waited, then called her again.
In a span of five minutes, he had called her over ten times, but—
"She's still in a call."
Hizashi jumped, hands waving around frantically. "We gotta do something! What if she's hurt? Or worse! What if she's dead!?"
Shouta clicked his tongue, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a frustrated sigh. He glanced at his phone again and, after a moment of contemplation, shoved it in his pockets.
"I'm going to check on her. You stay here."
"What!? No! I'm going with you!"
"There's no point in both of us failing together, idiot. I thought it's your dream to be a teacher at UA."
"But there's no point being a teacher at UA if you're not doing it with me!" Hizashi huffed, crossing his arms and glaring defiantly at Shouta.
Shouta face-palmed. "Fine, then. Your choice."
The duo ran out of the auditorium, gathering many curious glances as they passed by. The humidity hit them the instant they left the building. Heat filled their lungs with every breath they took.
"You got the address?"
"Yeah, I have it saved up in my pho—"
"Where are you two going?"
A voice halted both in their tracks. They turned, stupefied, as an old man walked towards them from behind the building while carrying a can of coffee.
"I asked you a question." The old man repeated, "Where are you going?"
"We… We are going to check up on a friend… yeah!" Hizashi declared.
The old man didn't look convinced, so Shouta stepped forward. "My friend is in danger and I can't just sit here doing nothing and knowing she could be dying right now."
"What about the examination? If you leave right now, you'll fail. You do know that, right?"
"Yes, but I'd rather fail the exam and save my friend's life, than pass it and have to bear the guilt for the rest of my life."
With that said, Shouta turned tail and ran out of the campus with Hizashi closely at his heels, not knowing this conversation would mark the turning point of their lives.
Medical and the law enforcement were already there by the time Shouta and Hizashi arrived. Due to their status as pro heroes, they quickly got a brief overview of the situation. Two dead and one missing. Villain attack was probably due to revenge, or some other personal reasons, since no jewelry or money had been taken from the house. Other than the obvious evidence of a fight, the house remained untouched.
Shouta had to look away when Aiko's covered body was placed into a black bag. To see someone, especially a friend he had known for over two years, who was so alive and well earlier this week turn into a cold, dead body in just a few days was like a nightmare—no, it was even worse than a nightmare. Shouta never imagined a civilian teacher like Aiko would be attacked, and murdered, by a villain. Unlike heroes who had tons of enemies and the likelihood of one of them holding a grudge was incredibly high, it was almost impossible for a kind-hearted person, not to mention a youth teacher, like her to do something that would piss off a villain to the point of murdering her entire family except—
Wait.
"Any lead on the kid?" Shouta pulled an officer aside who had just finished questioning a witness. "The villain must have a reason to kidnap him, and only him. I assume they won't kill him before they get what they wanted. There must be something, some connection, that the villain has with the Shimura's."
"I thought so too." The officer with the head of a cat agreed. Shouta glanced at his name tag, which read Officer Tamakawa. "From what we can gather at the moment, the Shimura's is a pretty peaceful household. The neighbors all have good impressions of them. They never had any enemies or confrontations with anyone that can result to this… They have no living relatives so the suspect isn't some vengeful family member either. Of course, a more detailed investigation might prove me wrong. But with the information we have now, the suspect is more likely to be someone from work that they've interacted with... By the way, don't you work at YHP too?"
"I volunteer there from time to time, to help supervising the kids and sometimes giving classes. Hizashi, too, goes there often." Shouta nodded his head towards the blond hero, who was staring sullenly at the body bags.
"Is there anyone there who you think could be a suspect?" Officer Tamakawa flipped his notebook to a new page, pen ready to take notes.
"No."
"…okay."
Shouta inwardly cringed when the conversation was cut off so abruptly. His bluntness had brought him many embarrassing awkward moments in the past and even after he became a pro hero, it still followed him everywhere he went like an annoying mosquito.
He thought about adding more to his answer. But before he could, the officer continued, "Now, one last question, Eraserhead. Where have you been and what have you been doing for the past two hours?"
Thirty minutes later, Shouta arrived at UA in a police car along with Hizashi. The examination had already ended. A few people in the auditorium were putting away the chairs while being yelled at by the old man from earlier.
After Shouta pointed him out, the officer went straight to the old man. "Mister, may I have a moment?"
The old man who was yelling at a young lad turned around with a grumpy look. He glanced at the name tag then gave a dry chuckle. "Officer Tamakawa, eh? Never seen you around. I assume you're new?"
"Yes, you can say that."
"Heh, good… good." The old man turned to the young lad and yelled. "Just put the broken ones aside and deal with them later!"
"Y-yes sir!"
"Hmph." The old man then plopped onto the ground and patted the wooden floor. "Come on! Sit! No need to be so uptight!"
"No, mister, I can't—"
"Yes, you can! A man should never say no! Now, now, you wouldn't want an old man to stand during questioning would you?"
Officer Tamakawa appeared to be conflicted.
Shouta could relate to him so well. He remembered coming across similar situations when he first began his days as a pro hero. There were so many rules on the Dos and Don'ts. And as always, when there were rules, there would also be loopholes. And these loopholes were what threw him into a dilemma every. Single. Goddamn. Time. In the end, he had learned to not give a fuck no more and just do what felt right to him. To hell with the Hero Rulebook and customs and courtesies.
And that was exactly what the officer did. He threw away all his etiquette and situated himself across the old man, crossing his legs and looking a bit stiff in his postures, while Shouta and Hizashi followed suit. The questioning only lasted a few minutes at most. The old man, whose name turned out to be Gran Torino, didn't ask what warranted the interview but instead answered all the questions skillfully with precise statements that left no place for further questioning.
Shouta and Hizashi were quickly cleared off of the suspect list. He doubted Officer Tamakawa even suspected them in the first place. He probably went through the process just because it was part of the procedures. And if this case ever went to court, he would have the necessary information to back himself up. After all, lawyers were nasty beings who would poke into every hole they found. A case could be completely overturned by one tiny loophole in the investigation and that was how many infamous murder case suspects were able to get away scott-free.
When the officer left, Shouta went up to the old man and thanked him.
Gran Torino simply waved it off like it was nothing. "No need to waste your breath on this. I don't need thanks. If you really want to thank me, then stop wasting my time and get on with it."
"Right," Shouta nodded and began heading out with Hizashi.
"Where are you doing?"
Shouta stopped in his tracks, causing Hizashi to bump into his back with a yelp. "We're going back home."
Hizashi groaned, rubbing his reddened nose in pain, "Yeah, I mean, we already failed the exam so there's no point staying here further."
"Who said you failed?"
"Huh?"
Shouta blinked. Even Hizashi stopped moaning in pain.
"You two have good judgement. You know what your priority is, and that's an important trait we need our teachers to have, because they need to know how to react under dire situations and make the right choice in the split of a second. Your putting your friend's life before the UA exam shows you have what it takes to pass the practical portion. So..." Gran Torino paused on purpose, his eyes glinting mischievously.
Shouta and Hizashi both held their breath.
"Congratulation. You've passed."
"YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The entire building rumbled. Ground shook and windows shattered causing glass pieces to rain upon the unlucky ones nearby. Chairs sprinted across the auditorium as if they had grown a mind of their own. The lights flickered rapidly before going out all together.
When the earthquake finally stopped, the terrified occupants raised their heads cautiously, unsure if the threat was really gone.
Being the closest to Hizashi, Shouta and Gran Torino received the worst of the blow. Shouta was already used to it (though not to this extent), but the tremor still left him frozen, rooted to the ground. The old man, on the other hand, appeared to be paralyzed by the shock. His eyes had rolled back and his mouth was opened as a line of drool dripped down from the corner of his lips.
When Shouta tapped his shoulder just to make sure he was still alive, Gran Torino fell back stiffly like a statue and landed heavily on the ground.
"GRAN TORINOOOOOOOOO-SANNNNNN!"
The old man cracked open an eye, glaring at Hizashi while tripping over his words, "I-I... I may be rethinking my decision..."
In the end, Shouta and Hizashi had to clean up the mess all by themselves before they were allowed into the interview room. Albeit they passed with flying colors (by Hizashi's standards), Gran Torino didn't let them leave until he made sure Hizashi was repenting and reflecting on his actions. By the time they arrived at their shared apartment, it was already ten o'clock at night.
Both were utterly exhausted that they immediately passed out on the bed.
But one question lingered on their mind.
How the hell were they going to explain this to the kids at YHP!?
All Might had just saved a kid from committing suicide when he received a call from Chief Inspector Tsuragamae. The moment he heard that single, dreaded name, he vanished from the top of the rooftop. The kid's excited scream could be heard from miles away as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, rushing towards the Police Station.
He made a beeline towards the Chief Inspector's office when he arrived. Tsuragamae was rummaging through some paperwork in his drawer with his beagle head down. He shouldn't be able to see All Might, but he apparently did as he said, "You're finally here, woof. I've been waiting."
All Might sat himself down on the rolling chair next to the desk, his weight causing the chair to squeak in pain. "You said you might have a lead to All For One?"
"Yes. Look." Tsuragamae placed a document in front of All Might.
"Murder... Out of the three victims... Two were killed while one was kidnapped... Shimura Tenko... SHIMURA!?"
"And here's more, woof."
All Might had to suppress his shock as he continued reading. "Evidence of DNA in the trachea... possibly left by the attacker... DNA profiling... I-I-Is that-!"
"Only one suspect turned up from DNA profiling." Tsuragamae angled the monitor so All Might could see what was on the screen. The picture of a disgusting, slimey creature was pasted under a name. It appeared as though the picture was taken with a phone, seeing as how it was a blurred photo of the creature sliding past the photographer. "The gang we took down last month revealed their informant to be a green, slime-like creature, woof. They said he was their only means of contacting All For One. And with the victims of this murder case being the Shimura family along with his involvement, woof, there's a high possibility that All For One has something to do with this."
"All For One... that bastard." All Might crushed the documents he was holding as an intense aura radiated off of his person. "Killing my master isn't enough... And now he has to come and destroy her only remaining family..."
"Calm down, All Might. Getting worked up over it now won't be of any help."
"You're right." All Might squeezed his eyes shut, frowning as he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
"You're good. Right now we need to focus on finding this suspect, woof. He can lead us to Shimura Tenko, and, ultimately, All For One himself. And one last thing," Tsuragamae pushed a sketch across the table. "This is a sketch of the man who was last seen interacting with Shimura Tenko, according to a witness report, woof. We suspect him to be All For One, but seeing you're the only one who has ever caught a glimpse of him, we want you to confirm whether or not—"
"It's him." All Might murmured, his eyes trained on the image. From the build to the suit to the face to the hair... There was no mistake. "This is the man who killed my master."
"Great, that'll make things easier, then. We'll focus on tracking down these two villains, and hopefully we can find them before anything happens to the boy, woof. Who knows what they want with him."
All Might left the station with more questions than he had before. The main issue he had was...
What did All For One want with Shimira Nana's grandson?
"Whatever it is... I'll stop you before you can taint him with your filthy hands." All Might vowed with silent fervor. "I will stop you this time, All For one."
It was a promise to All For One. To his master. To Shimura Tenko. But moreover, it was to himself.
Due to the fact that the most wanted criminal in Japan was possibly involved in this case, the Chief of the Police threw all the available man-hand into the investigations and all other cases were put on a hold. Efficiency sure skyrocketed when everyone was focusing on a single task, especially when said task was personally assigned to them by the Superintendent himself. In less than a week of time, they had gotten a possible location of the Sludge's hideout.
All the evidence pointed at a run-down house near the edge of the city surrounded by abandoned factories. There were reporting of suspicious gooey noises and a blob of moving shadow in the back alley near a convenience store a mile away. The task force had then investigated every suspicious location, including the sewer, and ultimately found their way to the house.
Units were dispatched to nearby observation locations to keep an eye on the hideout twenty-four seven, while taking shifts of course. The planned attack was scheduled to be six pm sharp, which was the time reported for the suspicious sightings. They couldn't engage the Sludge while the possibility of the kidnapped boy was kept in the house remained. The boy could be used as a hostage, or worse, be injured from friendly fire. So their best bet was to have a team watching the convenience store for any suspicious movements while another raid the house.
Most of the manpower stayed with the team that would raid the house, including the number one hero, All Might, and a few other pro heroes. Most officers weren't disclosed of the relationship between All Might and the Shimura family, only Chief Inspector Tsuragamae knew the significance of saving Shimura Tenko personally to All Might.
They still have yet to find any traces of All For One's activities, but they believed that if they were to save Shimura Tenko, the man would definitely show himself. If that didn't work, maybe they could get something out of the Sludge when they caught him.
Crouched on the rooftop alongside a police unit, Shouta had his goggles lifted over his head to act as a hairband as he swiped through the photos in his phone taken during his time at YHP. Aiko was in almost every single one of them, smiling warmly, laughing with the children, eyes crinkling in mirth, arms around an uncomfortable Shouta and a cheerful Genji. She had always been the sun in YHP, casting warmth to everyone she interacted with and pulling them together by the strings of their hearts.
And now that she was gone, it was as if something was missing. Her absence was like a hole in his chest, reminding him constantly that something was amiss.
But it would all be over soon.
She could rest in peace because today would be the day her death would be avenged.
"All units status check," The commanding officer of this operation ordered through the radios.
As the units all rogered in precedence, Shouta cast one last look at the photos before stuffing his phone in his pocket and pulling his goggles over his eyes. When it was their turn, an officer beside him murmured, "Control west window. Everything code 4."
And with that, Operation "Avengers" began.
The dim television screen was the only source of light in the room. Light bulbs had ran out of battery a long time ago, and the owner of the house didn't bother to fix it. It had been a while since the owner returned. The only occupant was the boy currently tapping the video game controller rapidly without the use of his pinkies. His dull, empty eyes were staring at the flickering tv screen unblinking, not reacting even as he set off a massive explosion wiping out a quarter of the characters in the market. Terrified screams of fictional characters echoed around him but the boy didn't even flinch as he took down the guards, one after another, that tried to come after the protagonist.
With the aid of the darkness, the Sludge poked his head out of the drain and peaked from inside the sink, taking note that it had been ten hours since the boy last drank a drop of water. He knew Sir wouldn't be happy with this information, not because he was worried of the boy's health, but rather he needed the boy alive. The Sludge couldn't care less if the boy died, but he needed the boy alive to get his money. Because he had failed to eradicate all the members of that family last time before Sir arrived, his pay was pushed back until after he completed the next task.
The thought of that pissed him off.
Not just the pay—well, he did want his money—but rather the way Sir's assistants acted pissed him off. All the money matter was handled by those two assistants. Even his pay. Sir didn't say anything about docking his paycheck or pushing it back, but when he asked them for the money, they dared to tell him no. And when he complained to Sir about it, Sir didn't do anything and simply let those two arrogant motherfuckers do whatever the fuck they wanted. The Sludge would have killed their asses if Sir allowed him, or if he knew what they looked like. The only way to contact them was through the VoIP phone in the house and the phone number he was forced to remember (Sir only said it once). The Sludge had tried, and unfortunately, no other phones could reach them.
No matter how much he despised those two assistants, he could only keep his anger in check and wait for his paycheck. Once he got his slimey appendage on that money, he'd get the hell away from the boy who forgot how to act like a normal human being and the Sir who was never a normal human being to begin with, not that the Sludge was any more normal himself, appearance-wise.
The Sludge knew Sir wanted to act as the man who saved the boy from the evil villain, which was him, the poor Sludge, and so letting the boy catch him wandering around the house was a big no-no. Staying out of sight was incredibly easy, since the boy wouldn't look away from the screen once he started playing the game, no matter what happened. Once the Sludge tried overflowing the sink and letting the water flood the room, but even when the boy was knees high in the water, he still didn't even bat an eyelid. In the end the Sludge had to drain the water slowly out of a hole in the floorboard.
It had been almost a week since he was tasked with this babysitting job. All he had to do was endure until this Sunday, then he'd get his money. For some reason, the assistants only worked on Sundays. Perhaps they'd get more freedom once they worked alongside Sir long enough. The Sludge didn't know, not that it mattered to him since he couldn't stand Sir's overwhelming presence and wasn't planning on staying any longer than necessary.
Now he just needed to focus on keeping the boy alive for two more days.
The Sludge squeezed down the pipe and landed into the sewer, making a splash of the nasty, foul-smelling sewer water as he moved with the water current, the green slime that made up his mutant body blended in perfectly.
About a mile ahead was a convenience store.
Time to steal some dinner for the boy.
AN: I was watching a TED talk about original thinkers by Adam Grant the other day, and I heard some very motivational and inspiring quotes that can help you when you're feeling down or wanting to give up writing fanfiction:
So this is "The Creative Process:
1. This is awesome
2. This is tricky
3. This is crap
4. I am crap
5. This might be okay
6. This is awesome"
A lot of us get stuck at stage 4. That's when you start doubting yourself as a bad writer and wanting to give up on writing all together. To be original, you need to skip stage 4, because doubting your ideas instead of yourself "motivates you to test, to experiment, to refine."
"You're not gonna get judged on your bad ideas. To be original you don't have to be first. You just have to be different and better. The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they're the ones who try the most. The more output you churn out, the more variety you get, and the better your chances of stumbling on something truly original."
"Even the three icons of classical music-Bach, Beethoven Mozart-had to generate hundreds and hundreds of compositions to come up with a much smaller number of masterpieces."
So the lesson here is: "If we want to be more original, we have to generate more ideas."
"Originals are not that different from the rest of us. They feel fear and doubt. They procrastinate. They have bad ideas. And sometime, it's not in spite of those qualities but because of them that they succeed."
"Know that being quick to start but slow to finish can boost your creativity, that you can motivate yourself by doubting your ideas and embracing the fear of failing to try."
Don't give up if you can't come up with original ideas. Give those "bad ideas" a try. When that doesn't work, come back later and you may just see them in a fresh new light. Keep trying, experimenting with new ideas, don't ever stop, and eventually, you'll find your own unique original idea.
It's not hard being original. It's hard to keep searching for your creativity with no visible sign of success. People's greatest regret usually isn't an action they've taken in the past, but an action they did not take.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review/fav/follow if you've enjoyed it so far!