"Walk me through it, step by step."

Rumi took a breath. "I was moving south to locate Kurogiri's bar." She rested her elbows on her knees and stared at her hands, not really seeing them. "On the way, I noticed Himiko Toga in my train car."

"Did you move to engage?"

Rumi shook her head. "I didn't know who she was until she introduced herself later. She just struck me as odd. Smelled like blood. It was concerning, so I wanted to… investigate." She frowned, walking herself through yesterday. "She vanished when the train stopped. Like she was never there. That's when I prioritized finding and questioning her." Rumi was no shrink, but it was plainly obvious that Toga was a lunatic. A dangerous one at that. She still felt Toga's groping hands all over her body. "Two police officers arrived at the station. Lt. Ishikawa and her partner. They were looking for me. Or information on my whereabouts, I guess. Toga somehow distracted Ishikawa's partner, and they eventually left. She introduced herself to me afterwards."

The soft scratching of Hawks pencil was soothing. They shared a bench overlooking the Tama River. It was about four in the morning. "We talked. I asked how she vanished. She said… 'It's not related to my quirk, so you can do it too. You just have to… hold your breath and clear your mind… it's super easy.'"

Hawks looked up from his little notepad. "That's all she said? Seems like something like that would be way more complicated."

"Yeah, that was it. Word for word, just about. Toga didn't really strike me as the analytical type." She replayed the events in her mind, over, and over, and over, ad nauseum, until she felt she had a good handle on the order of events. Since the human mind was a fickle creature it was important that field agents get debriefed as soon as possible. Memory was only so dependable. "We walked, she agreed to teach me how to 'erase myself'. She wanted to go somewhere private." Shards of pulverized tile dug into her knees. "I should have known better."

"Himiko Toga was not your objective. There was no reason for the Commission to brief you on her, or to suspect that you would come across her. You couldn't have known better."

It was a struggle to keep her temper down. She hadn't slept last night. At first, it was the shock and the panic, but those feelings eventually died down. Now she was just angry. "I fucking knew something was wrong, Hawks! I smelled the blood, I saw the knife, my gut told me she was bad fucking news and I didn't-" She cut herself off. It was over, and anger couldn't fix this mess. Anger couldn't bring back the dead. Rumi took a deep breath. Then another. God, she was tired, but this had to be done. She continued in a professional monotone, just as she'd been taught. "We went into the parking structure just off the main road, two blocks from the station. Into the women's restroom. Toga spent about an hour trying to teach me."

"I… She… it was clear to me that Toga was getting some sort of sexual gratification from our interaction. I considered that she could become an asset for the Commission, and so I chose to exploit that." Yeah, she dangled herself in front of Toga's nose, and the girl sure as shit took the bait. In the end, maybe Rumi was the lucky one in this situation.

She was too slow to stop Toga from killing, and that dug at her relentlessly. But she was alive, despite her own brush with death. Had she been a bit slower, or had she missed Toga's wrist, she'd be the one in the morgue right now. Rumi didn't want to imagine her family, or the Midoriya's, at her funeral. It turned her stomach.

Hawks waited patiently for her to continue. He was great at pushing her buttons, but she was eternally grateful that he knew when to leave her be. "Things got physical. She pulled a knife. I put her through a bathroom stall. She 'erased' herself, moved to strike from behind. I kneed her in the gut. Then I threw her in one of the sinks." This was the hardest part. "I… I made a mistake. I thought I could handle Toga. I let myself think I turned her game around on her. But I didn't plan for," she struggled for an appropriate word, "interference." Lt. Ishikawa's vacant eyes stared up at her from the floor.

"You didn't expect the police to show up."

She puffed out her cheeks and reclined against the bench. From the riverbank, a stray cat stared up at Hawks, licking its chops. "I didn't listen. I mean, I did, but I didn't take it to heart." Hawks blinked at her. "What you tried to teach me about ending fights quickly. I didn't… I had her pinned, I thought it was over. I was wrong. Toga got away from me. I panicked, and Lt. Ishikawa died. Toga used her quirk, became the lieutenant, and killed Ishikawa's partner. I called it in on Ishikawa's radio. Then I retreated to the Cat."

They sat silently for a while. Hawks tucked his notes away and scooped her up with a wing, pulling her in close. "You okay?"

Rumi leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his torso. The canvas of his jacket was rough against her cheek. She snorted, "No, I'm not fucking okay. Do I look okay to you?" Twisting around she put her legs across his lap. That stray cat was creeping closer, its nose twitching rapidly. "I want to go home. I want to bully Kacchan into making me mochi. I want to tease the dork. Shit, I want a proper shower… I hate that they have to think I ran away. Like, I get why we did it this way, and I'm on board, but it fucking sucks."

It really did. But the Commission decided that if she were to find and infiltrate Kurogiri's operation – if it even existed, she added pointedly – then she would need an airtight story. A story which gained credence when the police released a missing person bulletin with her face on it. "Another thing, I get why I'm publicly missing, but why the fuck can't we tell the cops that I'm working undercover? Avoiding them is going to get tedious, and honestly, it just seems like a goddamn giant waste of time and resources."

"Ah, well… I guess way back when, when Internal Affairs created the Hero Commission, they ruffled some feathers in the National Police Agency. They thought that Heroics was an issue of public safety, and therefore a police matter. Relations since then have been tense. Or so I'm told."

Rumi didn't have the energy to glare up at him, so she just spoke into his shoulder. "And how much of that was bullshit?"

"About sixty-forty." Hawks' soft laughter rocked her. She could tell her legs were going to fall asleep, but she was comfortable and tired, and so refused to move.

"Asshole. So, what happens next?" This whole situation was a mess, and she didn't know what she was expected to do about it. There seemed to be a procedure for everything, each one rigidly enshrined in HPSC documentation. They dictated what to do or who to inform during and after incidents. She had memorized all of them. None of them were useful here. Maybe it had to do with the clandestine nature of her assignment. There was extraordinarily little in the Commission's playbook that covered espionage. Which made sense, honestly, since the Commission was an outwardly transparent government body. It would be stupid if just anyone could jump on google and look up the specifics of how field agents did their jobs.

Hawks cooed softly and stroked her hair. "You pursue your original leads. Keep searching for Kurogiri. Avoid Toga unless she makes contact herself. If she does… you can't kill her, Rumi." She sneered but said nothing. She didn't really need to. Hawks understood. "I know you're mad, and you feel guilty, but revenge will only land you in Tartarus. Please, promise me you won't let it go that far."

Rumi bit her tongue. She did want revenge, but she wasn't stupid. "I promise… What about the police? They're going to investigate; won't I be implicated? Or suspected as an accessory?"

"Don't worry about them. I'm your handler, so I'll handle it."

Well that was vague, but whatever. She trusted Hawks. It didn't really put her at ease though.

"Look, Rumi, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Two deaths is a pretty shitty start to this investigation. Again – and I cannot stress this enough – you're not at fault. I worry though. You're young, and this is some heavy stuff. If it starts to feel like too much, just say the word and I'll pull you out. I can do it right now if you want. You could go home today. I'll even explain to your parents."

"Wouldn't that piss off the illustrious Madam President?" Despite never meeting her, Rumi's opinion of the commission president couldn't get much lower than it already was. Inferring what Hawks went through in his fifteen years of training was enough to set Rumi against her permanently. Still, the old woman was Hawks' boss, and technically hers too. The idea of her mother and brother trying to deep fry Hawks was pretty funny though, so she was slightly tempted to take him up on his offer.

Hawks clicked his tongue, "She's always pissed. But seriously. If you need out, I'll make it work."

"Thanks, but I'm committed. I'm gonna" she yawned, "find Kurogiri, 'n bring Toga to justice… see Izuku." She snored softly into Hawks shoulder.

He held her just a little bit tighter. She was processing everything that happened well, or so it seemed. The Commission trained her to compartmentalize like he could, but they'd done it in less than two years. The work was… shoddy, in his opinion. Best case scenario, she'd come out of this fine. Worst case, she'd crack under extreme pressure, and, well… It didn't matter. Hawks already decided to support and protect her as best he could, until the very end. She deserved that much.

One of his feathers poked the encroaching stray cat in the side. It leapt about a meter in the air and hightailed it out of there. He hated cats.

"Please state your name for the record."

"Midoriya. Uh, Izuku Midoriya." He fidgeted awkwardly. Across the kitchen table sat a plain looking detective, Naomasa Tsukauchi, and a uniformed police officer with a fluffy cat head, Sansa Tamakawa. Izuku's mother busied herself in the kitchen but he could tell she was listening in. Amusingly, she wore an apron over her hero uniform. She'd stopped by for lunch and was about to return to work when the detective arrived.

Tsukauchi's face was relaxed. Polite and professional. Kind of forgettable in all honesty. "How would you describe your relationship with Rumi Usagiyama?"

Ah. He wanted to dive right into the deep end. Good. Izuku's face grew warm. Very warm. Across the table, Officer Tamakawa started scribbling out notes with incredible speed. "W-why is he writing so much?" So fast, what the hell?

The detective smiled sheepishly, "Ah, don't mind Sansa, he's just… enthusiastic about his work. But please, Midoriya, the question?"

"Oh, um, right. Rumi is a… friend? I've known her since we were little." The detective's eyebrow twitched at that. He thought he heard his mother snort in the kitchen. His ears burned. "Uh, well, I- I kind of…" He swallowed, "I like her." Detective Tsukauchi seemed more pleased with that answer. Did he have some kind of information-based quirk? A lie detector? It was possible, and it would be quite useful for a career in criminal justice.

"To the best of your knowledge, would you say you were on good terms with Usagiyama before she ran away?"

"Yes, I was." Izuku responded so firmly that both Tsukauchi and Tamakawa paused to look at him. He squirmed. It seemed confidence was fleeting these days.

Tsukauchi hummed, noting something in his notepad. "What were you doing on the evening of June twenty-third?"

Tamakawa went back to scribbling up a storm. Seriously, where was he getting all that paper? And what could he possibly be writing that needed so much paper?

Izuku gulped. That was a question he needed to tiptoe around. Especially if his suspicions were correct and Detective Tsukauchi could detect lies. "Er, well, I left school and met my, uh, personal trainer at Takoba beach: I'm training for the UA entrance exam. I got home around sunset, so… about nine?" Hopefully they wouldn't pry about who was training him. They were here asking about Rumi after all, so something like that couldn't be relevant, right?

Officer Tamakawa perked up, "Oh, my nephew is trying for UA this year too! Who's your trainer?"

SHIT! Izuku started sweating bullets. This, oh, this was bad. This was really bad. He'd somehow managed to divert his mother's curiosity, Katsuki couldn't care less what he did in his free time, and Rumi… She just… fell off the map over the last year. He rarely saw her anymore. So, the question of his mysterious trainers' identity had gone unanswered. Until now. Wait, secret identity, that was it! Izuku knew All Might's real name, he could offer that, while still telling the truth, and protecting All Might's secret all at once. He tried to answer but only squeaked when he opened his mouth. Hastily gulping from his glass of water, he tried again. "T-T-Toshinori Yagi. Sir."

Tsukauchi snapped his head up and stared right through Izuku. After a moment he seemed to have an 'a-ha' moment.

Izuku's poor brain went into overdrive but Tsukauchi moved things right along.

"Small world, Toshinori is a good friend of mine. Ah, no offense Sansa, but do you mind… thank you. Midoriya, when was the last time you spoke with Usagiyama?"

One Week Ago

Izuku, dead tired, stared at the ceiling. If he never went to the beach again it would be too soon. Still though. One for All remained at the forefront of his mind. All Might's Power, with a capital P, would be his if he could stick to All Might's All-American Dream Plan. It still felt too good to be true. He'd be able to attend UA. Kacchan couldn't leave him behind anymore. Rumi wouldn't have to. So naturally, his alarm clock should wake him any moment now, dragging him out of this incredible dream.

His phone pinged. Boneless as he was, he decided he'd let it be until morning. He was about to drift off anyway. Would he be able to dream inside a dream? That would be pretty cool. The phone pinged again. Izuku groaned. He really didn't want to get up. Please wait until business hours, thank you, and have a pleasant evening.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Okay, maybe it was important. Or even an emergency. That though spurred him out of bed. What if it was his mother in a tight spot, where she couldn't call? Or what if it was All Might? He plopped heavily into his chair.

5 Unread Messages:

You up? Come out to the balcony

Oi nerd

Bitch I swear to god

Dont ducking ignore me you coward

Fucking*

Rumi…? Izuku shambled out of his room, through the kitchen, and to the sliding glass door. And there she was, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She waved cheerily when she spotted him.

He flicked on the light and slid the door open. "Rumi? Why are you here?" She was dressed in dark clothes. Leggings, boots, a thin hoodie. Her ears were folded down under a grey knit beanie that she always said she hated. A small sling bag hung across her back.

"Pfft, oh, alright. Excuse me for wanting to say hi." She pulled his sore body into a crushing hug and he absolutely did not whimper. "I haven't seen you in forever, and this is how you greet me? Jerk."

This was nice. She hadn't hugged him in what felt like years. He was exaggerating, but still. He really hadn't seen her much in recent memory. "I didn't mean like that. I'm just surprised you're here, it's almost eleven." He pulled away. "Are you… is that makeup?" Sure enough, she wore dark eyeshadow and something reddish on her lips.

Her cheeks colored and she shuffled a bit. "Maybe? Depends. Does it look bad? Cause if it does then I'm actually deathly ill and this is just my face."

Izuku wasn't exactly well versed in cosmetics, but she looked pretty. Well, she always looked pretty, but this was something else. "No! No, not at all, it looks great. You look amazing." Her toothy grin damn near melted him on the spot. He looked down at her – and that was a novel idea, she'd been a centimeter or two taller than him for so long – with a question at the tip of his tongue. Ask her. Come on, it's just six words. If you don't then someone else will.

Something felt off though. It was the little things: The late hour, her bag, her outfit, the makeup. Individually, none would really stand out to him. All together though… It clicked, and he sucked a breath through his teeth. "You're leaving."

Rumi blinked, then sighed. "Yeah... I am. Leave it to you to figure it out so quickly." She tugged her hat off and rubbed at the base of an ear. "Just… need to stretch my legs for a bit. I wanted to say goodbye."

Izuku rubbed at his arm. This isn't where he saw this conversation going. It was far, far off target. "How long?"

"Dunno… As long as it takes, I guess. Might be a few weeks. Might be months." She leaned against the wall and carefully grabbed his hand, tracing his knuckles with her thumb.

Izuku gaped. "Months? What about school? What about UA? Rumi, what are you doing?"

She shrugged and put her arms around his neck. "Nothing I'd ever regret." She rose to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

Izuku's mind went haywire. He wanted to do and say so many different things all at once, but he locked up. He held her close, but eventually she slipped away. Izuku sat out on the balcony until his mother got home, just after daybreak.

"I guess it took me a while to realize what she really meant when she said she was going to leave. I called Mr. Bakugo as soon as I did. I haven't heard from Rumi since."

Naomasa nodded, looking over his notes. Officer Sansa had, by this point, scribbled out an entire novel. Seriously, did he bring a ream of paper in with him?

"Well, I think that covers it. We appreciate your cooperation, Midoriya. Hopefully the information you've provided will help us find Usagiyama. Ah, Mrs. Midoriya? If you're not terribly busy I'd like to speak to you as well."

His mom slid into the chair next to his. "Of course, Naomasa, anything to help." She ruffled his hair and smiled in a way that rivaled All Might. "Don't worry Izuku, she's a tough cookie. She'll turn up before you know it."

Izuku wandered away from the kitchen table, conflicted. He wound up sitting at the desk in his room. On one hand, he didn't know what Rumi was getting herself into, and that worried him. She could be headstrong and impulsive at times. Exhibit A: Rappa v. Mirko. On the other hand, he trusted her implicitly, and she rarely did anything without reason. Also Exhibit A: Rappa v. Mirko.

Part of him felt that telling her parents was a betrayal of Rumi's trust. She hadn't really suggested that she was leaving covertly but it was obvious that she was. Why else would she sneak up to a fourth-floor balcony while dressed in all black an hour before midnight? If he ran off to do something potentially dangerous or stupid, would Rumi tell his mom? Probably. So maybe he was justified.

Izuku sighed and laid his head on the desk. Only two things were certain in this situation. First, he was confused about pretty much everything. Second, he wished she'd stayed with him a little longer before she left. Her lips were soft.

Himiko pranced along, humming a song only she knew. It was rare that she found herself in a prancing mood; she considered herself more a skipper than a prancer.

An old woman smiled at her as she passed. "Oh my, what's gotten into you dear?"

Himiko grabbed the old woman's worn hands, spinning around her gently, "I'm in love, grandma!" She released the old woman and continued on her way with a pirouette, bubbling with laughter. She was in love, and it was wonderful! Tan bunnies hopped through her mind, twitching their little noses, and baring sharp fangs. Oh, I can't wait to see her again! Never before had Himiko completely lost control of herself. She'd always held onto some degree of lucidity, even during her first time with that boy at school. Then she met her little rabbit. There was just something about Mirko: she was so strong, so confident, and those sensitive ears, goodness. It drove her wild!

She knew prey, and she knew predators. Mirko was nothing at all like the timid little creatures she was distantly related to, she was a predator through and through. When Mirko had invited her in, she did so without fear. After she tried to profess her love, Mirko took absolute control, squeezing the life out of Himiko with one hand. It was like she'd been laid completely bare before God herself. Snowy ears and sharp red eyes scraped away every little thing that wasn't truly Himiko, leaving her soul bloody and raw. Just Himiko.

She took a turn off the main road and skipped through the maze of alleyways in one of the older parts of Kamino. She wasn't so lovesick to forget that she was a wanted girl. She'd need to find a place to lie low for a while, and she needed a new knife. The boxcutter she'd used since she ran away from home wasn't good enough for Mirko, she deserved something far better. Besides, it kind of broke when she became that nosy cops partner.

A man in a sharp white suit with slick hair leaned against the bricks up ahead. He whistled slowly. "Well hey there girlie, what's got you so upbeat?" The man leered at her, well, at her thighs mostly.

Himiko saw flashes of colorful tattoos through the unbuttoned collar of his silk shirt. Ew, yakuza. Her good mood shriveled – pervert – but fleeting thoughts of rabbits kept it from dying entirely. This sleazebag was an opportunity, and Himiko wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She beamed at the yakuza and said, in her most bubbly voice, "I'm in love, mister!"

His barking laugh was grating. "Well, ain't that something, congratulations girlie. Who's the lucky guy?"

Himiko shuffled her feet. Shyly, she looked up through her lashes, with the tip of her pointer finger on her bottom lip. "Um, well, it's a girl actually. I've never loved a girl before. Oh, but please don't tell anyone mister yakuza, sir!"

That got his full attention. His eyes widened when she said the word 'girl', and he puffed out his chest when she called him mister yakuza. Disgusting idiot. Himiko didn't hate many things, but perverts were right up at the top of the list. And blowhards were just annoying.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, I won't tell a soul." He mimed zipping his mouth shut. "You must be nervous though. You worried about disappointing your girl?"

Himiko nodded timidly. "I don't want to be bad, what if I upset her and she leaves?"

"Nah that won't happen. You're a good little girlie, I can tell, but you might need a bit of help. I can teach you some things if you want. You won't be able to find anything like this on the internet either." He smiled, flashing a gold tooth.

Himiko started to nod, then hesitated. "But… My momma, she always told me never to talk to the yakuza. She said they do dreadful things to girls like me."Ha, as-if. She could never stand the sight of me. Her eyes flicked down to his waistband. She took a step back, gulped, and pointed. "I-is that a knife?"

"Sure is, but don't you worry baby, I'd never hurt you." He drew the knife and deftly twirled it through his fingers. He offered it to her, hilt first. "Here, I'll even let you hold it. Careful though, it's real sharp."

He must feel so smooth. Sucker. Himiko took the knife, displaying a proper amount of fear. Just enough to keep the yakuza convinced that she was intimidated but wasn't about to run off.

The knife was pretty. It was a kwaiken, with a handle of dark lacquered wood. A thin Mother of Pearl ring topped the blade-end of the hilt. The blade itself, shorter than the hilt, gleamed in the sun. Himiko gently touched the pad of her finger to the blade's edge, drawing a thin line of blood. "Wow, you weren't kidding mister, it is sharp."

This was a proper knife. One she could use to get closer to Mirko. It would make a lovely gift. Maybe she'll slit my throat with it. How romantic! The thought sent a rush of heat to her face.

While staring at the drop of blood on her finger, Himiko flicked her arm at the shoulder, putting a wide smile on the yakuza's throat. He wasn't worth loving, so she tilted her head to the side, neatly avoiding the arterial spray.

He died with a whimper.

Himiko wiped the knife clean on the sleeve of his crisp white suit. She withdrew the scabbard from his belt and rifled through his pockets. Mr. Yakuza donated a hefty pile of cash, a phone, and a revolver to the Himiko-Mirko Marriage Fund. The gun was tossed aside with a curl of her lip. Distasteful things, firearms. So impersonal.

Stuffing her haul into her cardigan, Himiko trotted off. Hmm… now that she thought about it, the yakuza had a valid point. Himiko hadn't loved a woman before. Maybe she should do some research when she had a chance, she didn't want to disappoint Mirko. That would be so embarrassing.

"Any idea what this is about?" It wasn't unusual for Nezu to call an impromptu faculty meeting, but whenever he did, he also sent out a brief memo to get people up to speed. It wasn't necessarily efficient, but it worked. Shota slid into the vacant seat between Nemuri and Hizashi. It was about ten o'clock at night and he'd been about to head out on patrol when he got the email.

Nemuri glanced over. "Oh, evening hon. No, he didn't say anything. He seems upset though."

"Yeah, I saw the little dude about twenty minutes ago, he seemed pretty worked up. Must be important, he doesn't usually call meetings this late." Mic chimed in. "I don't really mind though, gives me a nice break from grading papers."

They didn't have to wait long. There was a tremendous racket from above. A size four boot kicked a grate out of the ceiling, and all three feet of Principal Nezu rappelled out of the ventilation system, dusty and livid. He tromped across the table, peeling off a little set of night vision goggles as he went. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice." Nezu sat in his chair at the head of the table, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a moment to compose himself. His fur was tinted grey with dust, save for a small rectangle on his face where the goggles had sat.

The staff murmured quietly amongst themselves.

Nemuri snuck a picture of the principal, smothering a squeal by biting her thumb.

Mic snickered.

Aizawa grumbled.

"We have had a security breach." Nezu said. "Approximately one hour ago, someone logged into our system with falsified credentials and tampered with the student registry. Specifically, the list of hopeful applicants for this upcoming February's entrance exam."

That was unsurprising. UA had been victim to regular cyber-attacks since its founding, well before All Might ever attended. It happened every other week, or so it seemed. The attempts weren't usually successful, however. Given Nezu's visible irritation it was a logical assumption that the attackers were successful this time.

Security was good, but it wasn't flawless. Usually someone wanted to add a name to the list of accepted students or adjust exam scores. Occasionally someone tried to clone an entire drive off the server. It was rare for the attempts to go unnoticed by UA, and rarer still for them to be successful.

Mic laughed. "So, what is it, another brat with mommy's money try to skirt around the entrance exam?" He apologized sheepishly when Nezu didn't laugh.

"A prospective student was removed from the list of applicants."

Nemuri frowned. "Do we know who was removed? Or who made the changes?"

"While I am a genius, I do not have the entire student registry committed to memory. We'll know soon enough though." Nezu worked quickly, opening a server log file and the latest registry backup. He double checked his work, highlighted a single name, and recovered that student's deleted application and user profile. "Our deleted student is Rumi Usagiyama. This deletion wasn't initially flagged as inappropriate because it was done with a UA Staff Account. I was only made aware via an automated email because my approval is required to delete user profiles."

On another screen he brought up the UA Faculty portal and sorted the users by order of descending date. The newest account had been created an hour and ten minutes ago. The username was complete gibberish: ukyv27D4epR8yNklyr4H.

Well shit. This didn't look good. "Wait, Usagiyama was declared missing by the Musutafu police precinct a week ago." Aizawa rubbed at his dry eyes. He was busy enough as it was, he really didn't need more to deal with. Could he pawn off some of his less urgent duties to Amajiki, Hado, or Togata? A brief image of the school, ruined and in flames, passed through his mind. No, no he could not. Aizawa sighed.

Nezu nodded, carefully sipping from his cup. The saucer clattered against the base of the cup. "Correct, Shota. Miss Usagiyama disappeared eight days ago. At this time, it is assumed by the police that she voluntarily ran away from home. However, that does not explain why someone went through the effort of trying to erase her from our records, nor does it explain how our perpetrator has done so. Coincidentally, I was meeting with both Ectoplasm and Hound Dog when I was alerted to this. Ectoplasm, if you would please."

"Of course. The campus security grid logged no breaches within the last three hours. In addition to generating a legitimate user account with staff privileges, I suspect that they've produced a physical ID with the credentials matching their user account. I checked the card programmer in the security office, and it hasn't been touched since Vlad King needed a replacement ID printed three months ago."

The muttering staff were growing more restless as the information was laid out.

"Furthermore, the registry was accessed through one of the laptops reserved for student use in the learning commons. Location data from that laptop places our suspect roughly five hundred meters above Principal Nezu's desk."

Aizawa reviewed everything silently. The job was incredibly sloppy, almost tauntingly so. This person had all the tools needed to make an authentic user account with all the privileges it provided, and yet they left behind location data and server logs? Why stop at faculty level? Surely, they could have created an administrative account and bypassed Nezu entirely. And the perpetrator did all this in midair, high above the UA campus? And how did they make an ID card? The machine they used was unique, custom made by Power Loader. Nothing added up.

Mic was drumming his fingers on the tabletop. It was a nervous habit from their school days. "Alright, so this is looking pretty shady. All we know is someone jumped through all the right hoops at the wrong times to delete the application of a missing kid? That's not really a lot to go on my dude."

"That isn't necessarily an apt metaphor, but essentially yes." Nezu was on his third cup of tea by now. "Upon review it seems to me that someone is intentionally leading us by the nose. We will fix these holes in our security as soon as possible, and then we will find out who had the audacity to tamper with our records, how they did it, why they did it, and how it connects to the disappearance of Miss Rumi Usagiyama. We will hunt them down and bring them to justice with all haste."

Tea sloshed over the edge of Nezu's cup. He jumped up in his seat and smashed it into a thousand little pieces on the table. "I will not tolerate humans fucking with my school, is that understood!?" It was so quiet in the wake of Nezu's roar that one could hear a pin drop from across campus.

Aizawa's eyebrows shot up. He thought he'd seen Nezu truly angry before, but this blew the scone incident out of the water.

The rodent slavered and heaved, daring anyone to protest with his beady little eyes.

Aizawa pointedly cleared his throat.

Nezu seemingly woke up. He straightened, clasping his paws anxiously. "Ah, oh my… Thank you Shota. I'm terribly sorry everyone, my behavior was inappropriate and… unprofessional in the extreme. I know better than to behave this way. I define my anger; my anger does not define me." He said the last part to himself, as though reciting a prayer.

"We should probably hear what Hound Dog has to report, Principal Nezu." Nemuri said carefully.

"Oh, oh yes, of course… if you would please?"

Hound Dog went ahead to bark, growl, and snarl out something completely incomprehensible to everyone except Vlad King, who awkwardly translated.

"He says he investigated around the learning commons just after the breach and picked up the scent of… Chicken?"