So another year… how many of those there are? This is getting bad already. Regardless, welcome to the first chapter of 2020, where tension is through the roof and the payoff is just maybe what you guys want.
-.
September 18th, Tokyo, Jonanjima, Tokyo Bay, 1030.
Shiozaki had been lucky to miss the event; Kamui Woods had a scheduled interview on a radio show and his intern would tag along. Today was supposed to be just a follow up on yesterday's success; just get in, make sure the place was the gang's warehouse and close the case.
The girl was plenty strong, but the scene was just too much for someone that young. Mt. Lady could hardly look at it, and some members of the small police regiment that accompanied the heroes were even gagging. The testimony collected from the arrested criminals yesterday had warned about what was to be expected, but the frightened words of those men and women couldn't possibly convey the actual situation.
Gore.
Nothing else could describe what the heroes and the police found once they opened the garage door of the dingy warehouse that had been pointed to them by the criminals they had arrested.
There was blood everywhere. Chunks of ripped flesh littered the floor. Pieces of many different victims loosely bunched together, some picked clean to the bone.
They had been dead for about a week now, and thankfully the weather hadn't been all that warm over these few days, so the stench was far from the worst it could've possibly been.
Still, it was another smell that assaulted Machibuse's senses. A combination he was made too familiar with years ago: Ammonia, blood and saltwater… just missing the scent of smoke and the red emergency lights and this carnage would be just like the one he walked into at the Murakumo's cargo bay.
This couldn't be…
"Figures why those guys were in such a hurry to leave this place." Detective Tanuma broke the oppressive silence.
"You said what did this was one of the League's artificial humans." Edgeshot spoke, now carefully entering the building.
White Rider's attention quickly shifted to the policeman.
"Interrogation said that a monster like the ones that attacked Hosu was the responsible for this mess. Partially exposed brain, mouth like a deep-sea angler fish, long arms that ended in bladed fingers. Kept repeating words like "food" and "hunger" in a…" the detective explained but his description was cut off.
"It spoke in a muffled grow and smelled like seawater and ammonia." White Rider completed the sentence, his voice dead serious.
"The guys said it was more like brine and ammonia, but you got the rest right... What's the deal, kiddo?" Detective Tanuma questioned, a mix of surprise and concern visible on his expression.
"Classified information, detective. I need to reach out to the Ministry of Defense. Top priority should be to locate this angler Nomu before it does any more harm." White Rider responded bluntly, now walking deeper inside the warehouse to find any possible leads. He had a good idea about where to look already.
The detective just turned towards Edgeshot, the unspoken question all over his face.
"Okay everyone, top down search! Lock the street and call in the guys in charge of biohazard clean-up! I want everything in here logged by the time they arrive!" Detective Tanuma turned around to address his men. The police still had a job to do regardless of what was happening between the U.A. kid and this Nomu.
With a short sigh, the Ninja Hero followed his intern.
"The bolts that held this plate to the floor were severed from underneath, if the target is using the sewers to move undetected then it would justify why the criminals we apprehended choose to lock down the gutters around their location. Something sharp was dragged back and forth from this point and most of the trails of blood also lead to the sewer access… this Nomu is likely carnivore and took some of its quarry with it." White Rider spoke without taking his eyes from the hatch that sat by the far corner of the building. Perhaps it was an emergency escape route that the criminals had installed, but it had turned into the doorway for their demise.
The thin metal sheet was clearly shredded at the hinges and locks. Rust gave it away that the metal had been very poorly maintained over the years, but if that Nomu managed to cleave through something that hard than it was no surprised that it's victims were hacked to pieces.
"Tokyo's sewer system is possibly the largest in the world. We are going to need a team in order to sweep through it." the teen continued, now leaning closer to the ground to take a peek into the dark tunnel.
"Why do you know about this Nomu?" Edgeshot questioned in a stern and almost demanding tone unusual of him, ignoring the investigation his intern was conducting.
Machibuse remained silent for a moment.
"Because I am certain it was the thing that took my mother away from me." he responded with boiling rage subtly lining his immaculate protocol speech once he concluded that no one other than Kamihara would hear him.
The "and I want it dead" at the end of that sentence was left well implied.
"I will see that this Nomu is tracked down." Kamihara nodded in accordance.
Machibuse had just turned to thank his boss, but the man spoke once more.
"You are off the case." Kamihara decided.
"What!?" Machibuse now snapped to his feet to face the man besides him face to face.
"I've made it my responsibility to help you with your past and ensure that you remain safe; I would be going against both these duties if I allowed you to proceed." Kamihara reasoned, tone still firm.
Machibuse couldn't put it in words, but he couldn't break as well. His fist tightened, a small trickle of blood now oozing out of his right glove as the Chelicerae in his palm dug onto his fingers.
"The decision is final. Are we clear, Rider?"
"Crystal, Sir..."
-.
September 19th, U.A. Highschool Heights Alliance, 1-A, Courtyard, 1030.
Machibuse had missed days like these. Lazy, unnoteworthy days where he was allowed to just do the bare minimum. It had happened once or twice since the beginning of the year, but today had been one of the very few occasions where Class 1-A was given a day off from classes; apparently the second years would be doing some sort of test today, and that required full attention from the teachers.
Never to complain about a day off, Machibuse had done his morning routine, had ran his sixteen kilometers around the campus and followed it with breakfast. The last couple of hours had been dedicated to reading and, whenever the book got a little too boring, napping.
Sure, he could've done that in his room, but the weather was just so nice and mild he felt obligated to enjoy the grass of the courtyard. A soft green cushion against his back and the cool shade cast by the girl's side of the dorm.
Things were pretty much perfect…
Well, as perfect as they could be given the situation with that thing on the loose. But Machibuse learned over the years to just bottle everything back inside and keep on keeping on. He had to.
But it was hard.
Those thoughts just wouldn't him alone.
Machibuse took a deep breath and flipped to the next page, the four light pink band-aids tipping his fingers contrasting heavily against the white of the paper. They were stamped with all kinds of cutesy things, from hearts to kittens and flowers.
The first-aid kit had run out of the adhesive bandages, but Hagakure had a few to spare in her bag.
Then something slowly came up on his peripheral vision.
"Mind if I join you? The girls are trying to think of something for my birthday and I am not allowed to hear it." Momo asked with an amused smile on her lips and a rather impressive tome on her hands.
"Should I join them?" Hakuba offered, now eyeing her from underneath his book.
"I'm pretty sure that they are already thinking of ways to set us up, you would just polarize their planning." Momo chuckled as she now stopped nearby.
"Well, may I?" she repeated her question.
"I do not own the courtyard by any means." Hakuba responded, shimming to the side a little to give Momo some room in the shade.
"Except between you waking up and leaving to run." Momo pointed out as she sat down.
"In my defense I have invited plenty of people to join me since we moved into the dorms. It just seems like my classmates aren't fond of early morning exercise." Hakuba retorted, now returning his eyes to the pages in front of him.
They were close, but there still was a seemingly insurmountable gap between them. In other ways beyond just their positions.
Both of them just kept silent for the majority of their time together and neither of them would deny that things were a little bit awkward. It was surprisingly rare for them to be alone now that they shared their living space with another eighteen people, and this had been the first time it was just the two of them since they actively began rekindling their relationship from the meltdown that followed Kamino.
That went on for about half an hour, Hakuba laying on the grass and Momo sitting just within arm's reach. Both occasionally glancing at one another when they were sure they weren't being watched.
What actually broke their silence was when their eyes happened to meet.
"Umm.. W-what got you to pick up a hero encyclopedia?" Momo scrambled, truth be told she had been eyeing the bandaged fingers. She knew something had happened but wasn't sure about asking; things were still a little iffy, and maybe she would be treading somewhere she was not supposed to.
"Ah… this. I have decided to try to gather up some intel on people I might run into while on the job. I ended up working with a number people from schools other than ours during the provisional license exam, and it dawned on me then that not knowing what possible teammates can do is quite a big problem… By chance I saw what one of students from Ketsubutsu was capable of, and that changed the entire scenario back at the rescue camp." Hakuba explained, not exactly expecting such a question.
"So you are now forcing yourself to learn." Momo concluded, now peeking at the book with more care.
"It is not like I will have Midoriya-san nearby to provide me with exposition whenever it seems necessary." Hakuba joked without changing his tone as he shifted his eyes back to his book.
Momo eyes lingered on him for a moment longer.
She took a deep breath.
"What happened?" Momo dared to ask, concern clear in her voice and expression.
Hakuba just remained silent.
"You did that thing again… whenever you get stressed you just start clenching your hand… sometimes on your shoulder, sometimes just as a fist. And you hurt yourself when you do that…" Momo continued, now reluctantly crossing into the no-man's land that had divided them up until now.
"You don't have to tell me why, I just want to know if you are oka…"
"You heard her… she was dying, she was in so much pain…"
It took Momo a moment to put everything together, just who Hakuba was talking about during that rare outburst of angst.
"That thing is still out there, Momo… the thing that took my mother from me escaped the Murakumo somehow." Hakuba continued, now resting the book over his face to hide his eyes.
"The one from the cargo bay?" Momo asked, the tale she had heard from him now playing back in her head.
"It is a Nomu. The description I got checks every box."
"Does that mean…?" Momo tensed, while the possibility of All For One's involvement in the events of that night was never discarded, it was still hard to believe.
"And both Edgeshot and the hag have forbidden me from going after it!" Hakuba slowly took both hands from the book over his eyes, least the Chelicerae in his hands ripped holes into it.
"They are right. You really shouldn't…" Momo responded reluctantly.
"I know they are right… but I want to murder that thing… I need to! It deservers nothing less than death!" Hakuba continued venting out his anger, struggling to not rise his voice any louder.
Dim light slowly washed over his face.
"Vengeance is not for you…" Momo spoke softly as she picked up the book so she could see his face.
There he was again, with that expression locked in neutral trying to hide away everything. Eyes speaking volumes about his anger as he adamantly kept his tears to himself.
"You will never move on if you just rush back to try fixing what happened all those years ago, Hakuba. Please, if you fall off like this then there is no telling if you will ever come back…" Momo continued, her fingers now tenderly running through his hair.
"Because you swore to me that you will not strand from the path. You cannot allow yourself to fall for the same reckless revenge that got your friend Ingenium to confront me in Hosu."
Chizome's words echoed inside Hakuba's mind. It was weird to think that of all people; the Hero Killer would be the one to get his feeling so spot on.
"Doing things the right way is hard." Hakuba admitted, now turning slightly as to face Momo. She was so very close.
"That's why people share their burdens, idiot…" Momo chuckled as she caressed his cheek with the back of her fingers.
Took Hakuba a moment to respond to that, things in his mind were still a mess.
He was still angry. He still wanted to go against his better judgment and hunt his target. He still wanted to gut that Nomu open. He still was torn with the consequences of giving into this desire.
It was all very confusing, but he was pretty sure about one thing.
Slowly Hakuba reached for his book and got his back off the grass.
Momo pulled her hand back, but before she could say anything she was surprised by Hakuba now laying back down with his head on her lap.
Hakuba knew that Momo brought peace to his mind, and he needed a whole lot of that right now.
No more words were exchanged between them.
No more words were needed.
-.
September 19th, U.A. Highschool Training Grounds, Gym Delta, 1600.
Tetsutetsu wasn't even sure about what just happened.
In an instant he was throwing a right hook, in the next he was with his back against the floor and trying to not tap out.
"Flying armbar? Guess I should've seen that one coming from you…" Kendo commented amusedly from the sidelines.
"I can show you the motions if you want, but I assume that you have techniques more suited to your Quirk than something like this." Machibuse offered nonchalantly, gradually increasing the pressure over Tetsutetsu's shoulder, elbow and wrist.
"I do but it doesn't hurt to learn." Kendo responded.
"I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT IT REALLY FUCKING HURTS!" Tetsutetsu shouted as he continued to try wrestling himself free.
The struggle continued for about ten more seconds before he finally gave up.
"I told you that you wouldn't like this, but you insisted to come." Kendo sighed as she watched her classmate being pulled back to his feet.
"How was I supposed to know he was going to do this ninja shit the second I missed a punch!?" Tetsutetsu complained.
"You weren't supposed to know; submission holds are much more effective when the target doesn't have time to react." Machibuse responded the rhetorical question.
Tetsutetsu just stared back, an appropriate response not coming to his mind.
"So, what's the trick? I got that you crossed over his head with your leg, but I didn't manage to see you were doing on the other side." Kendo asked, now taking a fighting stance.
"The trick is on getting above your opponent. What I usually do is stepping into my opponent immediately after parrying, either on the tight or hipbone. If you trust your leg strength you can just jump, but in my case stepping also helps with delivering chemicals." Machibuse explained as he slowly did the climbing motion on her.
"After this you just throw your other leg around and pull in." Kendo concluded after watching the rather aggressive footwork a couple of times.
"Heavier or stronger opponents don't always fall, but gravity still locks them into place. If Tetsutetsu-san had his Quirk active or managed to brace for the pull he would likely be still on his feet by the end of the attack." Machibuse added.
"And how can I not get caught in one of these? Just so I know." Tetsutetsu now chirped in, his eyes following as Kendo tried that climbing herself.
"Not taking Quirks in consideration? You just need to stop the opponent's leg from crossing over your head. It is better if you can stop the jump altogether by pulling away, but if that is not possible you can just rise your free arm to block. A flying armbar is far from being a safe counter, once the motion begins it is easy to end up without making the cross up and face first into the floor." Machibuse responded, his hand doing a slow circular motion that stopped suddenly as if to illustrate the scenario.
"Huh, seems simple enough…" Tetsutetstu nodded.
"Mind if try?" Kendo asked, clearly going through the motion inside her head.
"Please do." Machibuse responded, now preparing to throw a punch for her to counter.
Kendo blocked perfectly, and quickly pressed one of her feet firmly against Machibuse's tight. In a sharp twist she jumped and threw her leg over.
Her grip failed a little.
It was an awkward fall, but Kendo's training made it a harmless one.
"Ok, it's harder than it looks…" Kendo admitted as she rolled off her back and dusted herself off.
"Edgeshot is a much better teacher than me. There are a lot of small details that I grossed over in the explanation." Machibuse spoke in an apologetical tone as he offered a hand to Kendo.
"Don't worry, I got good feeling of what I did wrong. Got a little scared about just throwing myself into the air like this and everything fell apart from there…" Kendo sighed, but she was determined to get the move right.
"Guess I'm gonna try it as well… I mean, looks really cool." Tetsutetsu scratched his chin.
"Now that you speak about it, shouldn't you be with Edgeshot? I caught Ibara leaving for her internship after lunch." Kendo pointed out as she allowed Tetsutetsu to try the climbing motion on her.
His footwork was questionable to say the least.
"Edgeshot has ordered me to take a few days off. The situation after our latest investigation was concluded got… sensible." Machibuse responded, discomfort hidden for now.
"Ibara told us that you guys ended up finding something too big for interns to handle, so both of you ended up off the case." Kendo explained.
"Yeah, she didn't seem to know why though… just told us that Kamui Woods pulled her out of an investigation." Tetsutetsu added, focused on trying to get the move right and failing the first step.
"Shiozaki-san wasn't there when we moved into this next phase. And it is classified information, so I am not allowed to disclose details of what I saw… she should be only on training and patrol duty from today until the end of our internships, and I don't think I will get involved in anymore investigations there as well… Tetsutetsu-san, try skipping the first step and focus on the jump. Flexibility is not your strong suit." Machibuse explained, shifting his focus away from the investigation and into something much less stressful.
"Like this?" Tetsutetsu dared, now taking a rather unrefined leap with much more force than necessary, resulting in him landing on his stomach.
"You should stick to what All Might-sensei told you back before we took the provisional license exam… just bulldoze through things, it's way easier for you…" Kendo pointed out.
"Isn't that the same advice All Might-sensei gave to Kirishima-san… ah, of course it is." Machibuse quirked an eyebrow.
Tetsutetsu just grumbled as he rolled over.
"At least this break you got will give you enough time to think on a gift. Ibara told me that you were struggling." Kendo chuckled as she turned towards Machibuse.
"Still am." Machibuse sighed, shoulders slumping.
"Looking for something special? I gotta say that you two looked pretty close while reading." Kendo teased.
"How come you know about that?" Machibuse turned towards her, his expression mildly confused.
"One of the girls from your class, not giving away any names here, uploaded a really interesting photo on our private chat earlier today."
"…Dare I ask what happens in this group chat you girls have?"
-.
September 21th,Tokyo, In Transit Towards Nighteye Hero Agency, 1235.
The ride had been rather tense for Midoriya. His arms held his backpack tightly against his chest as he mumbled something against the fabric.
Sir Nighteye gave him a vital task today.
Midoriya looked up for a moment, then resumed his mumbling.
Machibuse sat across from him, idly scrolling on his phone in search of a gift.
"Machibuse-san…" Midoriya finally spoke up. The tension in his voice somewhat reminding Machibuse from their first meeting right before U.A.'s entrance exam.
Machibuse just kept silent, now storing the phone back inside his pocked as he waited for the incoming question.
"How… how do you deal with this?" Midoriya asked, his heel tapping against the floor nervously.
"You will need to more specific, Midoriya-san." Machibuse quirked an eyebrow as he began reading his classmate's expression and body language.
Midoriya had been acting really off since a few days ago. Not only him, but Kirshima, Asui and Uraraka as well. If his intuition served him right, Machibuse could say that his classmates found something dark. The brief conversation he had with Kirishima over the phone four days ago likely had a role in that.
"The tension, this sensation that everything is on the verge of collapsing… the feeling of dread." Midoriya explained, now leaning his cheek over his backpack, eyes lost somewhere deep into the empty train.
"This conversation Sir Nighteye wants to have with me is not about to be a pleasant one, I assume." Machibuse inquired.
The only response Midoriya gave was a faint shake of his head.
Machibuse took a deep breath.
"You do not have to fight it, Midoriya-san. No one is invulnerable." Machibuse offered.
"Huh?" Midoriya now turned to meet his eyes.
"You asked me how I deal with these feelings. The answer is that I simply don't… I am not allowed to break like this, and since I am not strong enough I just avoid everything. It is that simple for me, but I can hardly recommend that you take such a path, things only get harder." Machibuse responded, his façade dropping for a moment.
He threw his head back, eyes now meeting the the roof of the train.
"This is how you ensure that a soldier never diverts from protocol: you chip away until only reason and efficiency are left… there are burdens that are only possible to bear alone when you leave what you feel out if the equation." Machibuse continued.
"I failed someone… how can I accept this without making it up to her?" Midoriya admitted bitterly.
"The girl that is being used for that drug. Something happened between the two of you and you blame yourself for it." Machibuse guessed.
A guess that was spot on, given how Midoriya recoiled from those words.
"If this failure is holding you back, then you are more than capable of correcting it. You are the next Symbol of Peace, after all." Machibuse offered his best motivational speech as the train began slowing down. They were close to their destination.
Midoriya wasn't feeling it though.
Machibuse sighed as they both walked towards the door.
"You saw the mess I was right before the Sports Festival. The day before that I ended up passing out on the floor of my bathroom after what was a hellish night of insomnia... When I asked Momo what I was supposed to do she simply told me to do my best. Having someone believing you makes a lot of difference." Machibuse told, that day had been a mess, but something good came out of it in the end.
"Someone that believes in me?" Midoriya repeated, mildly surprised.
"Permission to break protocol?" Machibuse asked, carefully looking around to see if someone was close enough to hear his next words.
Midoriya just nodded.
"I may not amount to much, but honestly I've never doubted that you would go places… remembering your entrance exam now that I know about this One For All thing makes it really clear. I mean, you saved my life back in Kamino when I tried to kill myself… You are either going to the top or to a madhouse, Deku." Machibuse smiled as he spoke words from his heart.
Those words surely caught Midoriya off-guard, given that he almost failed to step out of the train, and before he managed to rewind them in his head Machibuse was already back to his protocol.
Machibuse never came close to breaching his protocol like that again as they continued their journey towards the Nighteye Agency… It took Midoriya a while to recover, his flustered face earning a few stares from the civilians around.
Soon they had arrived at a building much more modest than the one owned by Edgeshot and greeted by a well-dressed man that looked much like a centipede and had a voice absolutely unfitting of his menacing looks. Sir Nighteye's office was just a floor away.
The room was dark, the only light source inside it being a computer screen. Illuminated by it was a man with dead serious eyes fitting of his businessman look.
"So this is the one capable of identifying the Quirk-Erasing Drug." Sir Nighteye spoke as he now reached for the light switch.
There was an obscene amount of All Might paraphernalia everywhere.
"Yessir." Midoriya responded quickly.
"Machibuse Hakuba, at your orders, Sir." Machibuse introduced himself with a sharp bow.
"Not yet… I have already spoken with Edgeshot, but I want to hear it from you. This investigation is far from a normal one; are you sure you want to take part in it?" Sir Nighteye asked, his tone hard as if to intimidate the student in front of him.
"I was told that my Quirk can turn the scenario around. It is my duty to help." Machibuse remained firm.
Sir Nighteye pondered for a second. He then suddenly turned to Midoriya.
"Very serious, isn't he?" the pro asked in a stern tone himself, apparently it was some sort of inside joke in this office.
"Regardless… You are right about how your Quirk can make or break this operation, you surely would be high on my assistance request if you were registered on the Hero Network. If you are sure about this then it is best if I fill you in about the details. What do you know?" Sir Nighteye asked, now turning back towards Machibuse.
"There is a new drug, capable of temporarily erasing someone's Quirk. It is produced from the blood cells of a young girl, very likely against her will." Machibuse responded, leaving out the part about how he found out that Midoriya and this girl had already met.
"The people behind the development of this drug are the members of a yakuza group known as the Shie Hassaikai. They are apparently at the testing stage of this new drug, and everything points towards their objective being something capable of completely destroying someone's Quirk factor. The young head of the Hassaikai is a man by the name of Chisaki Kai, who goes by the alias of Overhaul. We have information on the most prominent members of this group, but Overhaul is the main player here." Sir Nighteye began the explanation, now reaching for the screen of his computer, turning it around to reveal a picture of a man in a purple fur lined jacket wearing a beak shaped mask akin to those used by plague doctors.
On the tab behind the picture was a sketch drawing of a little girl with red eyes and a single horn.
"He named himself after his Quirk, a power that allows him to disassemble and reconstruct mater. Our investigation has let us to believe that Overhaul is using his Quirk to somehow turn the body of his daughter, a girl named Eri, into bullets like the one used against Suneater." Sir Nighteye continued, switching to the tab with the sketch as he spoke.
That caused Midoriya to flinch.
"Turning his daughter into bullets?" Machibuse repeated.
"If the information you provided us with over the phone is as reliable as your friends say than there is little doubt." Sir Nighteye responded.
No wonder his classmates were like that.
This was insanity.
Machibuse paused for a moment.
"Very well. How can I be of use?" he pushed forth. There was no backing out now.
"First things first." Sir Nighteye began, now reaching for something inside a drawer. A sheet of paper and the same plastic bag containing a red bullet Fatgum had brought to the meeting.
"This is the only sample we managed to secure, alongside the component breakdown given to us by the police. I was informed that you are required to have the components already in your system before synthesizing anything. Is it possible that you can create a cure with these? Our target has an unknown supply of ammo that would cripple any hero, and you may be our safety net… we'd just send those affected by the drug your way once the raid is over." Sir Nighteye inquired.
Machibuse reached for the sheet of paper, taking his time to read the information thoroughly.
"I was under the assumption that I would be capable of creating an antidote, but if this drug attacks the victims Quirk factor directly rather than simply disabling it, than I would not be able to undo the damage." Machibuse responded, mildly disappointed.
"I understand." Nighteye nodded, it wasn't as if he didn't account for this possibility. It was just too convenient.
"I can however synthesize a vaccine, something to minimize of prevent the damage dealt by this drug. I would need to be at the site to administer it however, my training has increased the stability of my chemicals and anything I concoct can remain active outside my body for about two hours, but that is in a perfect environment. A person's immune system plays a huge role in this time limit, so it is safer for me to administer the vaccine right before the operation begins." Machibuse suggested, although he knew that if Nighteye and Edgeshot had spoken then things wouldn't be that simple.
"So you can immunize us! Machibuse-san, that changes everything!" Midoriya jumped at the opportunity, the slightest hope now pulling him up from the gutter he was in.
Sir Nighteye leaned forward on his desk, silent for the moment as he weighted the possibilities.
"I can't guarantee that a vaccine made from this sample would be the answer to everything. If the Hassaikai is at a testing stage then likely there is more than one formula. It would be similar to a flu shot: it would make you immune to the effects of a specific drug, maybe to the formulas that use the same mechanisms because I plan on stopping the body from absorbing it at all." Machibuse explained the flaws of his idea.
"It is better than moving in without any protection. How many doses of this vaccine you think you can produce?" Sir Nighteye asked.
"Think of my Quirk as being able to create a stencil of any drug and print over it, too many copies of a substance this complex would result in mixtures that aren't reliable… The sample we have is very limited, but with this information from the police I can supplement the sample using other sources, this way I can be more efficient with the process. I would say that I would be able to immunize about twenty-five people before my system breaks the original sample too many times for it to be replicated again." Machibuse responded with a small sigh.
His father would've made over four times that amount with just the same sample. And his would be stable enough to be stored for days rather than breaking down after a few hours. Hakuba still had a lot to learn.
Nighteye once again began going over the plan.
A tense silence filed the office for about a minute.
"When I spoke with Edgeshot he agreed to lend you to my investigation under two conditions: The first is that I wasn't to use my Foresight on you, and the second is that under no circumstances you would be allowed to face off against members of the League of Villains." Sir Nighteye finally spoke.
"What happened in your past is not my business, but you will be only allowed to take part on the raid if you are to follow through with avoiding any possible members of the League. Our investigation up until this point has led us to believe that they are not working in cooperation; if this proves to be wrong them you are immediately to leave the premises and head to a secure location. Are we clear, White Rider?" the pro concluded in a way that gave Machibuse a palpable feeling of déjà vu.
"Crystal, Sir." Machibuse responded.
"Midoriya, we will be leaving for patrol. Inform Bubble Girl to accompany your friend to the train station and get dressed. Machibuse, for now you remain under Edgeshot and I will get in contact with you once we are ready to move. You may take the results from the police with you today, I will give you the bullet in time." Sir Nighteye now turned back to his computer, dismissing both students.
"Yes, Sir!" they responded in unison before leaving.
Midoriya stopped for a moment after closing the door.
"I… Eri-chan managed to escape a few days ago. I ran into her while patrolling with Togata-senpai. None of this would be happening right now if I had saved her." Midoriya confessed, he was now finally allowed to explain what had him so beaten.
"I see… then give it your best to make up to her. And be careful with this Chisaki guy, I am not sure that I can patch you up from being disintegrated, next Symbol of Peace." Machibuse allowed himself a chuckle as he bumped his fist against his friend's chest. Diffusing at least some of all that tension was a small accomplishment, but it was better than nothing.
Things would only escalate from that day on. A drug capable of irreversibly destroying someone's Quirk and a villain with the power to reshape mater itself.
If anything learning about Overhaul's power to destroy and rebuild gave Machibuse some much needed insight about a matter that was, on the grand scheme of things, much more insignificant than the inevitable conflict against the Shie Hassaikai…
Machibuse quickly picked up his phone and called the number he disliked most, he needed another favor.
-.
September 23th, U.A. Highschool Heights Alliance, 1-A, 0000.
Momo was just about to call it a day, she had already finished her homework, read another chapter of her book, organized the contents of her bag for the next day of school and changed into her nightgown.
Things over the last two weeks were a little all over the place. She had taken upon herself to keep track of what classes each of the students undergoing the internships had missed in order to help Aisawa with the extra lessons he would need to set up; Tokoyami and Kirishima were by far the ones missing most classes, given that they were working far from Tokyo and that caused them to be away for entire days at once… Tokoyami had missed the entirety of last week's classes. The other four weren't as impacted, but things were beginning to add up for them as well.
Not to mention that there was a sensible shift in the air regarding both Uraraka and Asui that none of the other girls missed since about a week ago. The two wouldn't say a word about it however, oddly familiar to how Hakuba kept things as "classified information".
Hakuba was another one up to his neck in problems recently. His internship started up just fine, but that latest discovery surely derailed him quite a bit. If anything it was good to see that Hakuba was willing to allow her to shoulder some of his pain.
It was impossible for her not to smile when thinking about how hard he was trying to find her something for her birthday.
Momo tenderly looked at the picture resting on her desk. She would be happy with just about anything that idiot got her.
She was just about to climb onto her bed when someone knocked on her door.
Momo took a deep breath and turned around, making her way towards the noise. She was already feeling sleepy, but I was likely just the girls up to something.
At her door was someone unexpected. And at the same time someone she somehow knew was going to be there.
"Did I wake you up?" Hakuba asked, in his hands was a box she saw him picking up earlier today from the mail. This time only without the wrapping paper and the urgency stamps used by the military delivery system. A fine wooden box, just about half the size of a shoebox.
"Happily awake now." Momo answered with a smile as she invited him to enter her room with a faint blush on her cheeks.
Hakuba didn't hesitate to follow, his eyes instinctively moving down as Momo turned around to close the door. That wasn't the first time he saw her dressed like this, but after what happened back at I-Island it had proved hard to… properly enjoy the view.
By the time she turned back he had his eyes focused on the box he was holding as if nothing had happened.
Hakuba took a deep breath.
"This is for you." he offered the box with a small smile.
"I heard that you had a hard time finding something." Momo joked as she accepted the gift.
"I do own another favor to the hag, but you are worth the trouble." Hakuba allowed himself a chuckle.
"Well, we shouldn't wait then…" Momo responded as they both walked further inside the cramped room.
She placed the box on top of her desk, close to where the portrait that had their photo from I-Island was. Carefully she opened her gift.
Momo was quiet for a moment.
"You have no idea how hard it is to get you a gift, since your Creation makes gifting you material things redundant I had to lean on what Kamui Woods described as "something that goes beyond material value"… it is not exactly jewelry but…" Hakuba began speaking, standing just within arm's reach of her.
"Hotaru glass, right?" Momo interrupted, a deep pink now on her face as she picked up the accessory from the box. It was a brass hairpin about as long as her hand and dangling from it was a small ball made of black and orange glass just as big as a ping pong ball.
Hakuba eyed her surprised.
"I ended up falling for the guy from Okinawa, so I studied a little bit… the tradition of these stems from the aftermath of the second World War. Okinawa was in ruins and the glass for the recovery effort had to be made using recycled bottles..." Momo explained, now carefully placing the hairpin back into the box.
"It is something we tie to rebirth and reconstruction. I think it fits…" Hakuba finished the explanation as Momo now turned to face him.
She just looked at him, tensing slightly.
Gently Hakuba moved closed and pressed his lips against hers.
Slowly she welcomed the kiss, reaching for the collar of his shirt to pull him closer.
Hakuba's hands were soon around her hips and didn't took Momo much longer to let got of the shirt and reach for the back of his head.
Their pace got a lot more intense after that and before they broke apart for air Momo was already sitting on top of the vanity dresser besides her desk, her back against the cold mirror and her legs firmly wrapped around his waist.
A soft moan escaped Momo as Hakuba took the chance to assault her neck before they locked lips once more.
A little more.
They were both very pent up, but there was a limit to how far things could go before the point of no return.
Just a little more…
Momo reluctantly placed her hand on his chest and soon Hakuba pulled back, now just leaning his forehead on hers.
"I apologize for breaking protocol…" Hakuba offered, his breathing still a little quick.
"I can't believe that you are actually saying that right now… with your hand there." Momo gave him a tired look before looking down to her chest.
Hakuba just shifted his eyes to the side as he innocently pulled his hand back.
"What does this mean?" Momo asked after a brief silence.
Hakuba took a deep breath.
"This entire internship situation has my mind all over the place, so I am not sure I would be a boyfriend able to give you the attention you deserve. I am angry, I am sad, I am disappointed with myself, I am feeling powerless… but you make everything go away. You always did." Hakuba admitted, as much to her as he did to himself.
Gently he cupped her face.
It was far from the perfection Hakuba wanted, but he couldn't hold it in anymore.
"I love you, Momo."
…
..
.
AN: So, what about this gift to the readers for the story's birthday (holy fuck this thing actually has a birthday…)? Came in a little sooner, but I am packing my stuff to move out the apartment I live in and wasn't sure if everything would be set up by the 14th. I'd say better safe than sorry, but I doubt that any of you have complaints about stuff coming up earlier.
We are Hope you all stick around for this year as well. We are almost 500 followers by now, and I can't thank you guys enough for the support.
Just google "Orange hotaru glass" if you want to see what the thing actually looks like, and the arts I spoke of should be done by the next chapter.
Anyway, I have received plenty of questions both in the comments and in private messages, and I mostly have answered them in private, but I guess that it would be good to start answering some here down in the author's notes. I'll be keeping the names of those who sent pms, because I assume that if you sent the message in private that meant you didn't want to have your name out here in the public eye.
I can start doing this Q&A thing every few chapters if you guys want me to, but there are some thing I obviously will not answer; such as things that will happen in future chapters or things I'm intentionally leaving up to debate.
So, here we go.
1)
mateususantosu: Guess I never did a kanji breakdown, did I? Anyway, here it is. Machibuse (待ち伏せ)can be broken down into two parts: Machi (待ち) means "To wait" or "Patient" and Buse (伏せ) comes from the word Fuseru (伏せる), which means "To lay prone" or "To conceal oneself". You were right when you said that it is an uncommon name, because actually it is a common name (Machi) that I added extra meaning to by adding additional syllables. The name Hakuba (白馬) also has a lot of meaning behind it. It means both "White Horse" and is the word used to describe unrefined sake, the "White Horse" part has been explored a few times already, he is a bowman that takes people down with something akin to diseases. And the unrefined sake is more of a joke, given that Hakuba can't get drunk because of his Quirk.
If you put everything together you get 待ち伏せ 白馬, which means "A white horse that awaits concealed". Kanji is fucking magical.
Machibuse (or Machifusei, or The Ambush Incident at Blood Pass depending on the translation) is also the name of a Japanese movie from the seventies about a ronin who is reluctant to kill and entangled in a betrayal plot. This is why I decided to make the character of Machibuse Hakuba someone that likes old movies.
Not even kidding, it took me an entire day to come up with this name when I was first drafting the story.
2)
Actually a lot of you asked me this one, but I only ever gave a good explanation to Scandalf: If Hatsume Mei is my favorite girl, then why is Hakuba paired up with Momo? Two reasons: First and most important is that, for me, the best thing about Mei is that she absolutely never stops, she is always laser focused on her inventions, and having her tied up in some romantic plot that would take this long to actually be developed would detract a lot from this devotion of hers. The very reason why I like her is why she isn't the pair.
Momo was easily my second favorite girl before I started this story, and she happened to check most of the things I wanted from a character for Hakuba to lean on like he does, the whole romance aspect of the story only came after I decided to anchor Hakuba to someone like this. That's the second reason.
Fun tidbit is that on my very first draft, Hakuba was actually a girl, then called Hakame (Hakuba was the then grandfather's name), and would be paired with either Momo, Bakugo or Iida. I decided to shift to a male character mostly because there aren't as many male OCs in this fandom and I wanted mine to stand out.
3)
This one came in privately, so no names: "If Hakuba was a Pokémon, what types would he be?" was actually a fun question to ask myself, I've played competitive Pokémon since the Platinum days, but have yet to pick up the new games.
I honestly love these weird questions. Let's be fair, I've made an entire chapter about getting the main character high because of one of these.
Regardless. Poison is an obvious choice, the secondary typing however was trickier to pinpoint, but I'd say Dark.
That gives us access to some very fitting moves like Baneful Bunker, Cross Poison, Poison Jab, Poison Sting, Purify, Toxic and Toxic Spikes from the Poison side and Feint Attack, Foul Play, Hone Claws, Knock Off, Nasty Plot, Night Slash, Pursuit, Taunt, Thief and Torment from the Dark side. A few moves from other types come into mind as well, like Counter and Low Kick from Fighting, Fake Out, Quick Attack and Smokescreen from Normal, and Fury Cutter and U-Turn from Bug.
If we are talking abilities than the first two that come to mind are Poison Touch and Sniper.
4)
Another one that came in privately, but I got this one question more than once: Will I ever up the rating of this story to M and write a lemon chapter? If you guys really want it, sure, I wouldn't mind. But I'd make it a separate story to keep this one into the T ratings where people would have an easier time finding it and to leave the lemon stuff just for those who want it. Regardless, it would be quite a while before it happened, because I'd much prefer developing the relationship further before jumping into that stuff, so don't hold your breath.
I suppose this is it for now, let me know if you guys want another one of these further down the line.
See you guys next time.