Author's Note: Another Three Chapters published together! We're almost close to the prison visit, but in this chapter everyone finds out who the mysterious prisoner is that Keiyu wants to help her. Also, Izuku demonstrates his analytical ability and kind of scares the police officers, and gets a new nickname! Hitoshi laughs and Keiyu swears she's not making a pop reference.
Chapter 15: Izuku's Data
"I cannot believe you talked us into doing this," Tsukaichi winced at his superior's unimpressed tone, shooting a glance at the government agent sitting in the far back, so far none of his fellow officers had noticed him, but it was only a matter of time.
It had been a long month of talking to his superiors and ensuring no information of the bet was released to the public, or the heroes themselves.
That would not end well.
The Police Commissioner, several superintendents, and head detectives of several precincts where the Tartarus prisoner was accused of his crimes were there. It had taken a bit of persuasion to convince them that this was a police matter and not a hero one, and he reminded them of the last time a hero was told that someone they arrested would be re-investigated, they incited the public into being offended on their hero's behalf and the police had been forced to drop the case.
All Might did not seem the type to do such a thing but Tsukaichi did not know him personally or professionally to make that judgement.
"Encouraging the next generation?" he tried but they didn't even twitch, "Look, these kids are looking for a therapist that isn't licensed by the Hero Commission and he's the only one in Japan," and wasn't that a bit unsettling, he remembered his own therapist who had made sure his dreams in heroics never happened, since his Quirk wasn't cool enough.
He liked being a detective better anyways.
"Plus, you do have to admit that with this guy, nothing adds up with him, and crimes he supposedly committed are still being done," he raised a hand to stop them from interrupting him, "The Copycat excuse can only go so far," the man put his arm back down.
He went on to speak some more when a knock caught their attention and he cleared his throat before calling them to enter.
The girl came in, followed by the boy he recalled as her cousin and the third boy had one of the police officers coughing,
"Sir that boy!" Tsukaichi saw how the kid shrunk and the other two stiffened, the girl's face turned cold as she stepped forward.
"Don't worry, he doesn't talk much in public after what happened to him, so no accusations of Quirk abuse will happen," that was a surprising bite coming from her and when the officer who spoke noticed everyone's attention on him, he sunk back into his chair.
"A-ano, my name is Midoriya Izuku, these two are Mumichi Keiyu and Shinso Hitoshi," wasn't Shinso the surname of that auditor that cops fear?
Midoriya was trembling in his shoes while the other two set up the projector and computer, before Mumichi whispered in his ear and took the mike that had been set up.
"For the past two months I've been trying to find a therapist whose focus is helping me deal with my anxiety, trauma, and unfortunate phobias that arose due to an incident some of you may be aware of," yes Tsukaichi had been let in on the incident, and his stomach roiled in protest at the reminder, "However what I got was propositions for future children in heroics, pressure to use and share my Quirk despite medical warnings, used as a shield against a villain, accused of being a villain in training by a man with suspected villain ties himself, and almost forced in the same program that is currently forcing a boy with wings to be a hero against his wishes by 'agreeing' to pay off his mother's debt that miraculously appeared one day," she spoke this in a deadpan voice, the accusation clear, "So I wanted to find an adult whose license doesn't require them to encourage kids into heroics or villainy for commissions, which is what led me to Masashi Yami, former Yakuza gang leader," said man appeared in the projection, and Tsukaichi blinked upon seeing it, the man looked much more terrifying in person.
Instead the person in the projection looked like one of those professors who existed on instant ramen and coffee and looked almost skeleton-like with his long limbs. His brown hair was blown around almost like a leaf blower had been there and even his eyes were a normal brown with dark blue eyebags beneath them. The only thing that hinted towards a Quirk were the horns peeking out of his head, one curved upward and the other downward.
"Born in 2165 to the Momokyokai Yakuza group, Masashi's name was given when his mother ended up throwing the baby, crying about him being a baby of darkness and refused to hold him again. His father took this as a good sign however and had his education start when the boy was around three years old, both mental and physically wise. However none of his teachers lasted long, all of them quitting or fired in one case with one who tried to kill the boy for 'his rude behavior.' In the end they had him do online tutoring which to everyone's surprise, had no difficulties at all, his online teachers praised him and had nothing negative to say at all about his conduct. At age 4 he was taken to a Quirk therapist who took one look and accused him of abusing his Quirk by seeking out her worst Nightmares. Thus given the name 'Nightmare'," Naomasa held back the snort at the utter look of disdain the girl had at the unimaginative name, "Yami became known for having a 'villainess' Quirk and was forced to wear a warning bracelet on his person in an attempt to get him to 'behave.' Masashi's father died when the boy was around ten, and malicious rumors by the boy's mother about him being responsible spread about despite the fact the man had died on foreign soil trying to find the answers to his son's Quirk and got caught up in a small gang war," two news articles appeared side by side, the left written in Italian while the right was in Japanese, both with the same picture of the incident.
It was strange to see because right now yakuza were seen as a lesser threat compared to villains, only underground heroes dealt with the groups, but the violence in that picture showed another story. Then again in Italy the mafia was still as big as ever and had very different policies on Quirk laws.
"Yami got his high school equivalent degree and took over his father's yakuza group, setting up territory patrols and making sure that everyone in his neighborhood was looked after. His subordinates were both terrified and fanatically loyal to him because he never punished them physically unless they did something he disagreed with. The group specialized in drug rings and illegal weapon trafficking but the drugs themselves were taken from pharmacies, reproduced, and sold at a lower price to families who could not afford it. Soon they took over casinos and underground fighting rings, the people running them mysteriously disappearing (although later it was found out they were villains using the funds for bigger crimes.) Yami even got control of some of the schools in the area and implemented a set of laws for the students that would give them equal authority with the teachers in the student council.
While this was going on he took college classes and got his Bachelor's in Education and Psychology, his Master's in Psychology, and went on to get his International Doctorates in both Psychiatry and Psychology. He earned his field experience helping kids around the block online because they were terrified of him in person, and he even did work with the local psychiatric hospital and helped a few patients work through their issues.
Unfortunately his mother had gained supporters and had been spreading rumors since his fourth birthday of his villainous Quirk. Others caught on and soon he was being accused of crimes that he was not in the vicinity to commit," she stopped at that and gestured to her cousin as she sat down, the boy taking a deep breath before he began.
"When he was four Yami was accused of pushing a girl off of a slide by her mother but CCTV from that incident shows the girl backing away from him in fright while he blinks at her in confusion and falling off on her own.
At five his teacher accused him of trying to kill her with his 'tentacles' but a doctor visit confirmed that the boy had no such thing and the teacher was later revealed to be someone who films child p-pornography with a deep fear of retribution," his face was red, no doubt someone told him what it was.
"Six is when a delivery boy came across him standing over a dead body and ran away screaming about him covered in blood, only for said dead body to stand up and Yami-san scolded him for playing dead because the man was afraid of the boy's father's wrath. Also this man had an Opossum Quirk that had the side-effect of him faking being dead, in one incident the man had to stop the coroner from cutting him open," the Commissioner's spit take in the background was almost humorous if he didn't know the man would make their lives a living hell if they even breathed a word of it.
"At seven Yami-san was accused of being a robber in a bookstore despite having been in the psychology section the whole time and the investigation was cut short by his father, months later a similar robbery had occurred with the same MO and the thief caught but the notation was never cleared from his record."
Naomasa winced and looked at the commissioner whose face was entirely blank, the man hadn't been in charge or been an officer at any of Yami's arrests, but that so many officers were involved without correcting their mistakes was not good.
It got even worse as the boy continued listing crimes where the true perpetrators were found or are still at large committing crimes in the same way that Yami was accused of. Particularly a rapist that Midoriya was uncomfortable to point out fit a popular hero's patrol routes and that any women who tried to speak up got shot down by the Hero Commission as delusional. In between listing the crimes the boy started muttering about several Quirks that were known in the media and started picking them apart before his violet haired friend nudged him and he got back to the topic.
It was kind of terrifying, and the amount of information and analysis that this boy was presenting was more thorough than a case report.
Then it came to the moment All Might arrested him, the hero not revealing the whole truth apart from suspecting him of being a very dangerous villain's follower and combined with all the other crimes the twenty year old had been sentenced to Tartarus ten years ago.
"Thank-you for listening, we'll leave you to discuss, and peruse the evidence folders," she then waved to Takoaka, several officers followed her gaze and blanched at not having spotted the man before the three kids left.
Not needing to be nudged, he grabbed the files and handed them out to the other officers who looked through them.
"They got all this in a month?!" Chief Tsurugamae barked out, staring at the folders as his subordinate swallowed.
"They are exceptional kids," the detective's eyes shot towards the military man who was now standing, staring at all of them, "I expect you to handle this evidence with all due competence without the thought of cover-up or letting the Hero Commission handle it, they are not the authority of crime," the last part of that sentence made some bristle in offense but the Commissioner looked at them and they subsided.
"So, let's discuss the facts," and how they were going to do this without the Hero Commission finding out.
"Do you think they took us seriously?" Izuku bit his lip, trying not to panic as the ticking sound of the clock filled the hall.
"I think they're still processing your lecture," Keiyu's amused expression made him pout, and it did not help that Hitoshi was snickering.
"What? You said to speak like I always do," he might have veered a bit a few times but he thought that he got all of the necessary information out.
"And you did, but your fast-paced lecture and endless stream of analysis of this way and that seemed to overwhelm them," her lips curled, "Data," it took a moment for him to get what she was saying.
"Wait, is that my-" she beamed at him.
"New nickname outside chat is now Data! All for!" she raised her hand and Hitoshi raised his as Izuku stared at them, a bit bewildered, "All opposed," their hands went down and Izuku squawked as he tried to raise his hand, but realized he was outvoted, "Thy name is now Data," her and Hitoshi high fived one another.
"C-can't you just call me by my name?" he asked, a bit desperately, she thought about that a moment.
"Nope! Data is now Data!" then she turned to Hitoshi who gave her a weary look, "I'll figure out yours soon enough," his friend twitched.
"I'll stick with VC," he stated firmly, Izuku waved his arms around.
"Don't I get a say in this?" he asked desperately before a thought occurred, "This isn't another cultural reference, is it?" instead of answering she passed him towards Takaoka-san who was exiting the room, completely ignoring his question.
With despair the Quirk analyst realized that he was going to be stuck with the nickname, probably for the rest of his life.
He was now Data.