Look forward to another chapter update of "I'm Watching!" later today!


The Disappearance Of The Number Three

Just over an half hours later, he arrived in Tokyo at the home of Tsunagu Hakamata, who was known as the Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist in most of Japan. He lived on the fourth floor of a rather luxurious apartment building right in the center of the capital. It was just a short ride away from Best Jeanist's Agency, the Genius Office which they had passed on their way here. As Matsuura had raced past it, Endeavor had noted the lights were still on in the upper floors.

As he stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor, he could already see three of Best Jeanist's sidekicks standing outside his office door. The tallest of them was tapping with his foot on the floor impatiently, throwing quick glances at the door every few seconds. It was he who noticed Endeavor first. He had brown hair, slicked back neatly with more gel than even Best Jeanist himself used. Jeanist's sidekicks were always annoyingly accurate. Years ago, when the younger hero had first started his own agency, it had bugged Endeavor the wrong way that the man seemed to spend more time refining his sidekicks' appearance rather than actually fighting crime. It wasn't that he thought Best Jeanist incapable, far from it, the man had quickly proven to be one of the strongest heroes out there deserving of his current Number 3 position, even if he hadn't been able to do his work for the last few months thanks to a nasty injury he received against All For One. Still, Endeavor had always valued doing his job more than thinking about how he might look doing it. He'd like to call it a foolhardiness of his past, but if he were honest, his opinion hadn't changed. Even now that he saw the sidekicks waiting outside their employer's apartment, all fancy costumes, and neat hairstyles, he wondered how much more work they could get done, if they spent half the time they surely needed in front of the mirror on their actual job. Especially in times as insecure as these.

Maybe it was due to the fact that just two hours ago, the news had corrected the death toll from the fire in Musutafu to nine, that he was immediately in a bad mood seeing four fully-fledged heroes just standing there doing nothing but wait. It was unfair, he knew. Surely, they had had a workday as tiring as his own, making up for their employer's injury leave, on top of now being worried about his disappearance. Still, they must have cleaned up after work, as none of the street dirt and grime nor the sweat of their own hard work still remained on their bodies. To be fair, it was the same for him, as he had showered after officially ending his workday and had only now changed back into his costume in the car.

"Is Silent Tracker still inside?" he asked, instead of wasting much time with a greeting.

"She's been there for half an hour already," the tall guy answered. Endeavor thought his hero name was 'Ebony Fall' or something like that. He had dark olive skin, shiny black hair and a black cape darker than the night outside. "Does it normally take as long?" He sounded a bit worried, but hid it well under his impatient scowl.

"Depends on how big the area is she has to search. Just give it fifteen more minutes." He shrugged their worry away. "In the meantime, tell me what happened."

In the next few minutes Ebony Fall… – or was it 'Ebony Rock'? – explained what had happened. In the late afternoon, they got an alarm from the apartment that was, however, quickly shut off. The alarm was set to go off whenever somebody would enter the apartment through the door or windows and not type in the correct disabling code within 20 seconds. So at first, Ebony Fall explained, it had simply looked as if Tsunagu had just taken a bit too long to put in the code. It was only when another sidekick had come to bring Tsunagu some papers, preparing for his planned comeback next week, that they had realized the hero was not at home.

Another sidekick – short figure, neat brown locks curling over his shoulders, wearing a shiny sparkling armor of white and gold – started explaining how he had found the apartment. He described it as disorderly and chaotic, as if there had been an altercation, but still oddly intact. That finally gave Endeavor pause. If the number three hero fought back against an attacker, even still injured and recovering as he was, it seemed odd that the building was even still standing. Yet the Sidekick didn't even talk about any bad damages, apart from a few shattered plates and a cracked TV-screen.

They had checked the security footage of the building, but it seemed to have been wiped.

That also explained why they had asked for the help of the Endeavor Hero Agency before involving the police. Due to the odd circumstances, they wanted to consult a fellow hero first. The police were informed already, but they had agreed to let Silent Tracker and Endeavor into the apartment before starting their own investigation.

"Something just seems off," Ebony Fall summarized. "From what Knighthood said," Endeavor assumed that was the hero-name of the armored sidekick, "it sounds a lot like the scene of a civilian kidnapping, not…"

Endeavor didn't need him to explain any further. It was thinkable that a hero could be surprised and unable to properly defend himself, but it seemed unlikely. He didn't get to formulate his own thoughts though, as in that moment the apartment door opened.

Silent Tracker was still fumbling with her clothes. She hadn't put on her hood yet and looked was still fumbling with her belt, checking that all the little pouches attached to it, where she kept her support items, were correctly aligned for her to reach them. Her curly hair looked more ruffled after her transformation as it always did. As she hadn't pulled on her hood yet, she was only wearing a tank top and no shoes. Knighthood blushed a little at her state of undress, while Endeavor hardly even recognized it anymore. He had worked with her for long enough. Sometimes when the situation demanded that she turned back fast, he'd even see her almost naked. She didn't seem to care anyway.

"What did you find out?" Endeavor asked gruffly, as Knighthood turned away with a slight blush, using his long brown hair almost like a veil between himself and Silent Tracker.

"It's odd," she simply answered, opening the door so Endeavor could get his first real view of the inside. It seemed Knighthood's description was rather fitting. "I used my dog and rat form, to not miss anything," Silent Tracker started as she moved aside to let Endeavor and the other heroes inside. "Don't go too far in, and try not to touch anything for the police later." Her warning was mostly meant for the sidekicks who now moved inside behind Endeavor. Some of them hadn't seen the apartment yet either, Endeavor realized at the sound of their worried gasps.

Endeavor looked around. It was as if a storm had gone through the apartment. They had entered into a spacious open living area, with a grand window front on the other side giving a nice view on the surrounding area, and when he turned to look further down the street, of the Tokyo Tower a bit further away.

The windows were still intact, but beyond that, it was pure chaos. Chairs and a sofa were overturned, a coffee-table had been roughly shoved to the side, the carpet was partly turned over, and the TV had fallen from the wall and cracked on impact. A plant pot had fallen from a commode, smashed and spilled its earthy content over the dark parquet. A stack of papers seemed to have fallen off the coffee table and spread all over the floor. A half-filled teacup had smashed against the floor, the liquid leaving a dark stain on the carpet. Someone had ripped the commode open, taking clothes out of it, and throwing them all over the place. It was there that Endeavor saw the first and only hints that Best Jeanist had actually used his quirk. A pair of trousers were half ripped apart, the fiber stretching around it, and another shirt had all but dissolved into thin threads that still hung from the lamp on the ceiling. But that was it. No damage to the couch cushions or the carpet or the window curtains. Even the tablecloth from the coffee-table that had been thrown halfway across the room was undamaged, though spoiled by tiny specs of blood, as far as Endeavor could see from his position without touching anything.

His eyes traveled further to the cooking area where several plates had fallen from the cupboard and shattered on the ground. The fridge had been opened forcefully, and the fruit tray had been ripped out. Apples and oranges had rolled all the way to the bathroom door. Next to the fridge, two pictures had fallen off the wall.

"It's the only room that looks like it," Silent Tracker informed after a second in which she let them take everything in. "The bedroom is in pristine condition. In the bathroom, the box of bandages and medicine are still open, but there is no chaos there. It looks as if Jeanist was just about to take care of his injuries. There's an open and half-dried bottle of ointment."

Endeavor went over to the bathroom door to push it open, but he halted before putting his fingers against the handle. There were red smears there.

"Yes, it's blood," Silent Tracker said, looking at him. "But it's just a little. There are small amounts of blood on the bathroom door handle, the tablecloth and the commode. That's it."

"How much was it?" Ebony Fall asked worried. As Endeavor looked at him he had his hands fisted at his side, staring angrily at the commode as if it was at fault for hurting his boss. "And is it from Jeanist?"

"It smells like it might be his," Silent Tracker nodded. "But it's not much overall. Going just by the amount of blood he lost in this apartment, it could just as well be a sudden nosebleed or a cooking accident." She sighed looking around. "Of course, that doesn't explain the state of the apartment."

"So, what did you find?" Endeavor asked giving the bathroom door a final glare before turning away from it.

"He definitely had a visitor," she started, scratching her head. "I assume from the smell they were male, but it's hard to stay. It must have been hours ago, and he didn't stay for long. His scent hardly lingers and I can't place it. I at least don't know him. As for Best Jeanist, since he lives here, everything smells like him, so it's difficult to say, but I get the feeling he took part in taking apart his apartment."

"Of course," a female sidekick spoke up. "He must have fought back."

"I don't think so," Silent Tracker rejected her argument. "It seems like he took part in creating the chaos, but there does not seem to have been a fight." At the sidekicks' and Endeavor's own doubtful look, she elaborated. "When people fight, they leave a very distinct smell. Sweat, in any case, pheromones… There's hardly anything here. Not enough for a real fight that would explain this chaos."

Endeavor's brows knitted in thought. This whole scene was odd. Knighthood had been right with his initial statement. It looked as if somebody had been attacked, defended himself and then got kidnapped. If he were in the home of a normal civilian, he'd surely expect the police to start an investigation into a kidnapping or even a possible murder. Yet, this was not the apartment of an ordinary civilian. This was the home of the number 3 hero. This made the whole thing make no sense.

The sidekicks seemed to think the same, and even Silent Tracker, who must have spent the better part of an hour searching for clues in this room using her quirk that allowed her to turn into different animals with heightened senses, seemed at her wit's end.

"Then what's this?" Ebony Fall asked, pointing up at where the cotton fiber of a T-Shirt still hung from his ceiling. "He used his quirk if only a little."

Both Silent Tracker and Endeavor looked up at the threat too. She took a while to answer. "To be honest, I don't know," she finally admitted. "It's his quirk, no doubt about that, but…"

"You don't think they fought, anyway," Endeavor finished her sentence as she started to hesitate. Endeavor didn't even see her nod, he was so focused on the fiber spread throughout the room. "It's odd…"

Nobody asked what exactly he meant. They all knew that everything about this situation was odd. "It seems like he opened the commode to use his clothes for a fight, but why didn't he use the tablecloth or the curtains or sofa cushions that were already lying around." He looked at the sidekicks for an explanation that he knew wouldn't come. If Best Jeanist hadn't been as good as he was, he might have believed he was just better at using the less stable fabric of his clothes compared to the more robust carpet or curtains. But Best Jeanist wasn't just any hero, Endeavor knew for a fact he could take sofa cushions apart just as easily as the denim his costume was made of. So why not use them? Surely if he had felt as if he were in danger due to a sudden attack, he would just use whatever weapon was already readily available. Silent Tracker's explanation that there did not seem to have been a fight seemed more and more likely.

"Yeah, never mind that I can't see anybody defeating Jeanist without even destroying the windows…," Ebony Fall muttered still glaring around as if he hated every part of the chaos. "And since he obviously used his quirk for… something, we can also assume that he wasn't just abducted in his sleep."

"No, from what it looks like, I'd assume he was about to take his medicine and rewrap his bandages when… well, when whatever happened, happened." That was Silent Tracker again, scratching her head. "If you asked me… and listen, because I know it will sound ridiculous, but I've spent an hour trying to make sense of all the tracks I could find and…"

She hesitated, looking around as if asking for permission to voice her opinion. As nobody interrupted her, she sighed noisily, shrugged and then explained her theory: "Best Jeanist was in the bathroom, taking care of his wounds when he received a visitor. They didn't fight, but the visitor stayed at least long enough for his scent to still linger until now. So I assume they must have talked. Jeanist might have even offered tea, though it seems like Jeanist ended up drinking alone. Then they…" she hesitated again, "randomly decided to rip the room apart, making it look a lot as if there had been a fight and a violent kidnapping, before they left together."

"If that was the plan, they didn't try very hard," Endeavor muttered. The fact that no fight that Best Jeanist lost could have done so little damage to the surrounding area must be immediately obvious to any hero and police officer worth their salt.

"They tried very hard to rip the room apart, not very hard to make the kidnapping believable," Silent Tracker shrugged. "But what for?"

"Since Best Jeanist is involved and apparently in on this farce, I assume he has a good reason," Endeavor granted, "but Jeanist too must know we wouldn't fall for this… So," he looked around one last time, "the rouse wasn't meant for us or the police. Which only leaves the press." He thought for another moment. "And the public."

"That makes even less sense," Ebony Fall rejected his theory. "Unlike you, Best Jeanist is trying very hard to keep his public image as pristine as possible." Endeavor glared at the sudden attack against him, but he didn't reject it. It was true, after all. For most of his career, he hadn't cared in the least for his reputation, which now came back to haunt him. He couldn't even say if Ebony Fall's comment was meant in a more general way or in response to his current scandal. "Part of that is to make sure the public can feel safe under our protection. Which would be lost if his kidnapping, never mind a fake kidnapping, made the news."

"Yes," Endeavor agreed, "so he must have a very good reason for his actions."

"So what? He wants us to tell the press that he was kidnapped? We don't even know for sure that Silent Tracker is right with her assessment," another sidekick asked, uncertain.

Endeavor expected Silent Tracker to look indignant at the insinuation that she might be wrong, but instead she simply gave a half-shrug-half-nod. She really must not feel very secure in her assessment. Normally she didn't lack self-confidence. Then again, this situation put even him on edge.

"No," Endeavor shook his head. "It's uncommon for heroes to publicize their problems." He shrugged. They all knew what he was talking about. They were perfectly correct. Heroes looked out for their reputation, and part of that was to seem strong and powerful, even when they weren't. When they got injured, the true extent of it was never publicized. When they died, the Hero Association would put legitimate effort into making it seem less gruesome. Of course, the press wouldn't always play along, investigating on their own and making their own theories, but no hero would want knowledge of their kidnapping in the news. "Normally, when something like this happens, we would act as if the hero simply vanished, still leaving the option that he might have just left for vacation on short notice. Or that the investigations are still running." They just would wait for the journalists to do their thing and start interviewing neighbors. The destruction of the apartment must have surely caused some noise, seeing Endeavor in Tokyo at his house would also cause suspicion, and for the police to go in and out of the apartment…

Now, that he thought about more clearly, it made perfect sense. It was ingenious. If that had actually been his plan, he would succeed. He had made sure that neither the heroes nor the police would believe his kidnapping, but his disappearance would surely be called into question by the public very quickly.

That left only three questions: Who was his second conspirator? Why this whole charade? And who was it they really wanted to fool with it? Because Endeavor didn't doubt that it was one specific target that would be reached through the press rather than the public in general. Someone should believe that Best Jeanist had been attacked and kidnapped in his own home… but who?

Endeavor had no doubt that it was to bring down a villain. But what villain would warrant creating such a farce and insecurity within the hero society? At the moment, unless Best Jeanist had suddenly found a new and more dangerous villain, he could currently only think of a single villain, or rather group of villains, who were powerful and dangerous enough to warrant such drastic measures.

Had the League of Villains finally made another move?


I have to admit that a few chapters ago I started missing "Detective Endeavor" the way I wrote him in the first few episodes with Natsuo's disappearance. It just was so much fun writing him as almost an investigator, not quite just fighting his way through his job but also showing his brains a little, that I wanted to do it again. Originally I hadn't planned to dedicate a whole (albeit short) chapter to Best Jeanist's disappearance, but I really just couldn't help it. How did you like it and how would you react and handle the situation if you were Endeavor?

Also Information of the day:

Continuing from last time there are still a few things about Musutafu's city districts that I have to talk about. So let's talk about it.

Last Chapter we already talked about Musutafu Central, Tyton, Nabu and Nasadaa.

Next up:

5. Dagobah:

Dagobah is the easternmost district along the coast. In the south it borders Nasadaa and there are still some industries close to Nasadaa. Due to this industry in Nasadaa and the south of Dagobah over the years the beaches in Dagobah were increasingly polluted over the years. This gave Dagobah a bit of a bad reputation as although it has technically the most beautiful beaches, there were never used to their fullest potential - instead, people just dumped their garbage there. (And yes, those are the beaches Midoriya cleaned up in the first few episodes.) This also dragged down the property and apartment prices in the area making it more of a middle to low-income living region. Historically most of the people who were living in the great apartment complexes in this district were working-class employers of the industries close by. Despite it's reputation of a lower-income living area, there is not much crime here, it's relatively safe, and villains aren't really interested in the district. Unlike Nasadaa which over time got more and more riddled with crime, Dagobah is doing quite well in that department. That is also the reason why this area is now quite an attractive living area for young students and adults who can't afford expensive apartments. All this new creative young influence and the now clean beaches help the reputation of this area immensely; it is an "up and coming"-living area... which slowly increases the property and living costs in this area.

This is were Midoriya grew up with his mother. It's also the area Fuyumi moved to when she left her fathers house.

6. Tatooin:

To the north of Dagobah is Tatooin. It still has a few beaches which although a lot smaller than the beaches in Dagobah had a much better reputation as they were cleaner. There are quite a few vacation homes in this area and also some quite well-off living areas. The people who live here are not quite as filthy rich as the people in Nabu, but they definitely belong to the higher middle-class and upper class. However, unlike Dagobah and Nabu which are both more or less pure living-areas, Tatooin has quite a mix of business and living areas. Much of the business from Musutafu Central has already spilled into Tatooin. Of all the districts apart from Musutafu Central Tatooin feels the most like an actual big city, while the others have often more or a town-feel to it, where you know your neighbors and their neighbors. Because of the many well-off businesses, there is quite some villain activity and white-collar crime here but also a high presence of crime.

Some smaller heroes who can't quite afford an Agency in Musutafu Central are placed here, such as (most prominently) Death Arms. Musutafu Grand Hospital where Rei lives is here. Also, Bakugou grew up here with his family.

7. Aldera

Aldera is to the west of Tatooin and to the north of Tyton (where UA is). It gets a bit hilly in the north and west of the district with quite a few forests creeping in from the mountains. A bit outside of Aldera is the campus of the Musutafu College where Natsuo lives. Most of this district grew more or less around the College and its needs. There are quite a few nice middle-class living areas and a few college dormitories. It's considered a rather nice area to live in by most people, as it's neither horribly stuck-up and filthy rich nor does it have a high crime rate or villain activity. People who live there range from working class to college professors. The parks are quite nice too, and just in general, it has everything you'd need for a good life, from normal shops, supermarkets, some nice café's, a cinema to a community pool etc. If you live here, you never really need to leave the district because everything you need is right outside your door-step. That's maybe also the reason why the area has quite a nice alure to it, and many people even outside of the area send their kids to school here, because it's nice and safe and education is great. Some say, that it was Aldera's reputation as a good place for education that was the reason one of Japan's first and biggest hero schools was placed here.

This is were both Bakugou and Midoriya went to the Aldera Junior High School.