Zuko couldn't help but smirk when Remko agreed to the deal he made. Plus, there was some benefit for himself to this wacky wild plan that Remko had in mind.
Then again, Remko had experience when it came to breaking out of prisons.
"I wonder if he can live up to the rumour of Mariko Tsujihara?"
As he wondered that, he watched with Li as the escape artist talked with another prisoner that could aid them on their eventual jailbreak.
Touya Kotaki.
"Are you in?" asked the short silver haired Remko, his brown eyes unblinking as he asked. Touya on the other hand, didn't say a word for what felt like a hot minute.
"Did you think I would say yes?" Touya gave the silver armed inmate a look. "How risky is this escape supposed to be?" The older inmate grabbed their sunglasses, pulling them down as they gave Remko a good look at his piercing eyes.
"Risky. If we get caught, it could all be over. Styx is one of the best for a reason and rumour or not, it will practically be a life or death operation in the sense that death will most likely lock us away for good. I'm risking my five prison breaks successes on this."
Pushing his sunglasses up, Touya waved his hand. "Very well, if it's a risky endeavour then I shall join. It better be risky though."
As Touya walked away without saying a single word more, a smirk appeared on the older inmate's face. "Should be fun, no matter which way it falls."
"That's one more to the group. Do you guys know anyone that could be useful?" asked the androgynous inmate as he returned to the escapee group.
As he asked this, Li shook his head. Not only was he new here (like Remko), he didn't really go out of his way to talk to anyone. Remko and Zuko were enough for him. Speaking of Zuko, it looked like he had one.
"I suggest we use him." pointing into the distance, Remko and Li soon saw the sight of a straitjacket wearing inmate.
Rin.
"What about him?" giving Zuko a scowl, the conman decided to elaborate with his 'partner'.
"Rin Yonaga! He's a special case. You see, despite the straitjacket he's wearing, he's one of the few prisoners that are released into the wards at night."
Giving the smiling Yamamoto a look, Akko only had one question. "Why?"
It was like he was trying to sell an old car or useless product as seen on TV. "Rin here is nocturnal and most of the time he is sent out during the night. Having someone be able to walk around the ward at night when no one is around is quite valuable you see. I once had a temporary acquaintance who was an nocturnal inmate and unless things changed, his information should still be reliable."
"If he's nocturnal, why is he here?"
Keeping his smile up, the smooth talker patted Remko's back. "I said most of the time. He's not fully nocturnal and I believe sometimes they put him out during the day because of his quirk." shaking his head, he waggled his finger. "Now, my old acquaintance informed me that the night shift had less guards on duty because of a lack of nocturnal prisoners being able to roam the wards. They had the areas they could go to severely limited, but night time information could still be helpful."
"What happened to your acquaintance?"
"Oh, he was found dead in a pool of his own blood."
"...ah…" scratching his chin with his left arm, Remko changed the topic. "I suppose that could be useful."
The scarred inmate then put his hand on the shoulder of the youngest one there. "And what about you, our silent pal?"
Turning to see Li's response, the youngest simply growled. "No."
"Oh? Do you have some history with him?"
Li huffed because of course he huffed. "If you call him attacking me once as history, sure. I refuse to work alongside him."
Raising an eyebrow, Zuko shot back. "Who said anything about working with him?"
"What do you mean?" It took Zuko off guard a bit when Remko was the one who asked. He was certain Li was going to be the one to ask that. No matter though.
"It's not working with him if he's left behind now is it." Wide eyes from both wannabe Styx escapists. "Besides, that's not all."
"...?!"
Zuko just smirked at their expressions. "There is another way to use him."
"What do you mean?"
The conman pointed to his own teeth. "He's quite the addict to blood, and I'm sure that's why he attacked you. Just draw him to blood or give him a big supply and presto, he's a wild cannon and could serve as a good distraction."
Li kept quiet. Not knowing what to say or how to say it. So he turned to Remko...who was already walking away.
"Hey, Rin."
The vampire looked up and by that, he leaned his body backwards to look at them upside down.
"I got an offer for ya!"
The bus ride with the old woman who sat next to her was a short and peaceful one. However, the company was short lived when the old lady stood.
"Seems this is my stop, it was nice talking to a friendly face." as she made her way down to get off the bus, right as another person walked on, Mariko suddenly gulped before calling out.
"It was nice talking to you too!" Her late response made the elder turn as a smile graced her lips.
Sending a smile to the runaway, the elder bumped into the person who just got on. "I'm sorry." with her apology to the stranger, she made her way off the bus and was soon out of sight. They were already on their way to the next stop.
"I'm sorry," she inwardly sighed, looking down at the money in her hands. The only plus to this was that the blame would be shifted to the unlucky guy she bumped into. "It's what I'm best at, after all."
The rest of the bus ride was just that, silent as people got on and off. It was normal. A normal commute, a routine. Life that was clearly separated from the world of heroes and villains, even if that was only a short cough away from the two worlds merging into one another.
When she finally arrived at her spot later into the day, she took the time to get adjusted to the place.
A quick look around, she couldn't help but nod to herself. "This place seems reliable, don't see any potential villains popping out of nowhere...yet."
However, there was one thing she had to do first: find a place to lay low asides from her quick and simple hideaway. Though, it seemed her body had other ideas as it gave a soft growl.
Perhaps...she should go and grab something to eat? Having a look for something quick and easy, she got the money she was 'borrowing' and began to walk around.
She found a nice little eatery and after a quick look at the menu, she placed her order.
After handing the money over, she headed back to her chosen table with a number. Sitting alone, she decided to go over her plans. "So far this place seems okay. I should scope this place out a bit more. No dangerous signs as of yet..."
Waiting for her meal, the escaped inmate kept her head down. Public places like these were dangerous for someone on the run like her. Her guard had to be up at all times.
"So when are we going to act?"
"Hm?" she discreetly looked over to the sudden commotion. Two people that looked like they were from an old western a couple of tables down seemed to be discussing something over their own meal.
"Ssh, dude. Chill," the second shook their head. "I told you, when we're equipped we'll strike. Now keep quiet."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the first tried to whisper, and to her surprise, no one else seemed to be listening in. Though that could just be because they were eating and talking with one another. "I'm just worried about Mulhall, you know."
The second scoffed, "Thank you for your sarcasm..." shaking their head, they continued after a gulp from their glass, "you know you're not the only one worried about our leader. Just have faith in Bariki."
"...you're right, you're right." sighing, they stabbed their meal with a fork. "I hope we can get the old boss soon. It just feels empty without him, you know."
"Blame it on the people who took him to Styx."
Mariko kept her head down. A part of her was surprised when no one else seemed to hear the two. "Cocktail party effect?"
She didn't have much time to ponder that thought of hers. "Anyway, our leader will get our old Mulhall back, we just gotta be prepared, you know."
The other figure at the table grinned. "Yeah. I can't wait to bring him back! I wanna go now!"
"Oi! Sit down, you're making a scene!"
With an embarrassed look, they sat back down as Mariko almost bit her finger.
"...that doesn't sound good...maybe this place isn't the best spot after all." she couldn't risk some group of people gaining unwanted attention and getting her wrapped up in it. "To think that people like that were out here, great. Trouble seems to-"
Suddenly a plate was put before her, like an out of thin air magic trick that dispelled her spiralling thoughts. "Excuse me, your meal."
"Thank you."
What a wonderful meal she was about to have!
...
After having a quick meal break, she made her way back to the bus stop. It didn't take long for the bus she wanted to show up.
Now it was a matter of time to get to her new destination, no matter how many trips it took. Overhearing those two during a small lunch break only offered her one thing. That this place could be dangerous for her to stay in if that group, whoever they were, went through with their plans.
It wasn't worth setting everything up here if they brought the attention of heroes, police and Styx onto them. She would surely be dragged into the mix.
So as she got settled into her seat, she decided to go further than the previous trip. The landscape wasn't super interesting to watch but she did see something. A person on a robotic horse. Crazy.
Right then, a bullet was fired as the bus drove further and further away. Police sirens and their lights zoomed past as time went on and she definitely saw some sort of hero rushing off into the fray of whatever happened back there.
What luck.
As Jin sat alone in the male ward, he watched the inmates go about their own thing. "I haven't been here long and I've already witnessed the craziness of the prison. From that bald yakuza looking guy attacking me, meeting Fumma and going through all that trouble with that guy that wiped the floor with us all."
Thinking back to that guy, the taunts were still fresh in his mind.
"Is that all you got? Hit me with your strongest!" the image of the nefarious grin came to mind. "Why the fuck did you drop it?! Pathetic! What do you call that? Fighting? I fought younger brats who actually wanted to fight stronger than you!"
Looking down at his hands, he noticed them shake a little. One thing was clear, crystal clear. "Styx was home to some very strong convicts."
That nameless- no. He heard the name while he was in the infirmary. Vito. The name of that convict that played around with him, like his crystals did nothing. He was just one of those few who were one of the strong ones, yet as he looked around, many of them seemed just like him.
It was odd to see them act...normal after everything that happened.
The worst part however was what he overheard from the guards once. Vito wasn't even the strongest inmate, there were more monsters lurking within its depths.
Clutching his fists, Jin knew that he couldn't avoid using his quirk the way he had been using it now forever, especially after what happened back then. It was a silent promise to himself, one that didn't last long as his thoughts were broken up thanks to a cheerful tone.
"Finally out of the infirmary I see. That's great!"
Looking up, the new-ish inmate looked up to see a familiar face approach him. "David?" Sadly, it was anything but happy. "What happened to you?"
As David gave him a gentle smile, any kindness that he meant to portray was warped by his appearance.
Standing before him, blood trickled down David's mouth and it looked like he was punched multiple times in the face to the point that the bruise on his cheek and around his eye were visible.
"What do you mean?" asked the friendly inmate.
"Look at yourself, David!" the crystal maker waved his arm over the older inmate's injuries. "You look like you fought that guy again..."
"Oh," was all he seemed to say for a hot second. "These, don't worry about this. Some inmates were...doing some infighting and I had to break it up. That's all, nothing too serious."
Pointing at his senior, Jin had to ask, "wait what? And where was this? I've been looking for you ever since I was released from the infirmary."
A hand placed itself onto the younger man's shoulder. "Jin, I'm glad that you're keeping an eye out for me when it should be the other way around." the older man seemed to chuckle at that. "I was indeed in a fight with other inmates and since I broke it up, I was reprimanded by the guards for joining in. I'm sorry that I worried you."
Jin, giving the man a look, sighed. "I...see… Sorry that you had to be tied up in those kinds of affairs."
"Don't worry about it, let's just...do what we usually do!"
"...Right. Everything that happened is tiring!" the blue eyed Jin stretched his arms high into the sky as he walked away.
David watched as Jin had walked away, a small smile struggling on whether or not it should show itself or not.
"Just for a moment, a single moment. He reminded me of you, little bro."
He shook his head, a fleeting memory that was long gone. He wasn't even sure himself, time sure had its mark. Could have been fantasy to a degree, to make a connection with one gone so long ago. Shrugging to himself and the old faded memory, the strong man followed the spiky haired man.
As the group split up and searched for clues, the man going by the alias of Shuten kept his eyes peeled. "I really hope that the hero can actually find something. Why did I agree to go on this mission again? Oh yeah, cause it was practically a day off and order needs to remain in Styx. So much trouble in such little time, what the hell is going on?"
This is really interfering with things. Why can't the prison function normally for once?
"Guess I shouldn't complain," mumbled Dion, almost reached for a concealed drink. "Damnit, almost forgot. Not allowed to touch these just yet..."
So he kept walking.
"If the sidekick is investigating another location where Mariko should be, I hope Hokori is having some luck." he stopped in his tracks, mostly to consider the simple fact of: what were they supposed to be looking for? Trash?
It was probably just a scope out of the area to make sure that she wasn't hiding here. So Shuten took a look at the sky, the buildings, eyeing in on anyone who had silver hair that crossed into his line of sight. Thankfully his shades helped out a lot.
It was time to spread out and keep his ears open for any sort of whisper. Quicker he got this done, the better.
Going down the street, he thought he would never find a lead or the person in question.
That was until someone caught his eye! A silver haired woman! He quickly increased his pace, cutting in front of the woman.
He didn't say a word, just leaned in close to the woman's face as she tried to mutter something out. It must have been quite the awkward situation she was in, on her end of course. Still, Shuten studied the target.
"Silver hair matches, uncut from the looks of it. However, height and eye colour is off, also a pair of sharp lower teeth poking out of her bottom lip. They don't look fake..." leaning away from the woman, he just realised how close he was. "You're not the person I'm looking for."
The look on this random woman looked very relieved when he backed away. He must have given her an intense stare down.
Or his drunk breath.
So he walked away, there was nothing left for him here.
"Hey, what the hell were you doing?!" a hand gripped onto his shoulder.
"Great. Unnecessary trouble."
When Dion had a look over his shoulder, he took sight of a man with wavy brown hair, looking pretty angry. "Oi, answer me." He must have overlooked this man when he saw silver hair.
"Did you not hear me? I said she wasn't the person I was looking for." slapping the man's hand away, Dion walked off.
Only for the hand to grip once again. Dion would have said it was tighter than before, but two types of weak grips were still weak at the end of the day.
"I don't give a crap about your shitty excuses, you-"
The man went silent as Dion/Shuten turned his head, that intense stare he gave the woman increased tenfold. Though, this time it was in the form of a glare. "If you want to pay a million dollar debt because of a woman you don't know, then be my guest." the hand retreated a bit, but Dion continued. "No matter what you do here, I will be the one walking away. First punch, last punch. Even if I punch you in front of a cop. I will be the one walking away in the end. Can you handle that?"
The man said nothing as he long since pulled his hand back.
"Good."
The wavy brown haired man and the silver haired fang woman just watched as the long, red haired man with tinted aviators walked away.
Turning his head around after crossing two streets over, Dion sighed. "I hope that doesn't come back to bite me. Doubt it would though. Better not cause too much trouble for the boss."
Not that it mattered much when it came to random people on the streets or him causing trouble.
"Oh yeah, I gotta find more clues or something," he clicked his fingers, turning around a corner. More searching, boy was that going to be fun.
...
After a quick walk around the nearby streets and taking a quick break on a bench and pretending to be on his phone when in actuality he was scoping out the people walking by, he stretched. "Nothing..."
Checking the time on his smartphone, Dion sighed.
No one matched the description of Mariko, he saw nothing that gave him a clue. He was simply empty handed.
"I guess I'll head back now."
The rookie of Styx jogged down the street and it sort of made him feel like some sort of spy. Acting as an average joe but in reality, a guard hunting down an escaped inmate. Daydreams aside, he kept his pace up, keeping an eye out for the description of the inmate he was supposed to be hunting.
He was glad that they showed him a picture of the inmate, he could only hope that he could pick up on her scent. That would be really helpful. Sadly, his nose was failing him. He couldn't find anything.
"Maybe Shi would be a better candidate for hunting by scent, but she would be a dead give away...this is hard. Plus, with what they told me about her quirk...I don't want to think about it..." opening his eyes as he took a quick break to catch his breath, the guard glanced up to the buildings.
Tall buildings stretched decently into the sky, nothing too tall but they offered good shade when the sun hit just the right spot.
"Now," he began, "if I were an escape convict, where would I hide?"
As his fennec ears twitched, he closed his eyes in thought. "I would probably hide far away, but would that count as an obvious destination? I could hide here, but that might also be too easy..."
Opening his eyes, Hokori decided to just keep moving. They were already planning on leaving the area soon, best to check out a few more less visited areas and then return to the bus.
And that's exactly what he did.
The rookie walked around, here and there, looking for the missing inmate of Styx.
...
He was tired of looking around now. He kept looking left and right for anyone who had a head of silver hair and it was honestly tiring. Not even his nose helped him! At least now in a crowded area, he could at least have a look at passersby while listening to that one song on loop for a few minutes.
First, he needed to find a good place to scope out the area. Jogging once more, the young bushy tailed fox jogged past a couple of people, aiming for the places there were the most crowded.
And what better place than a cafe with an outdoor view?
In front of a cafe now, the young guard started to feel the short jogging he did settle in as he felt sweat roll down his forehead.
"Oh, aren't you that new guard, Arashi?" a voice called from the cafe. Turning to meet the voice, Hokori saw an old man, dressed pretty sharply approach him with a walking cane in hand. The ones that had a sphere on the top of the stick. Fancy.
His ears perked up at the mention of his name and his eyes widened when he saw just who it was. "You're…!"
The old man raised his hand, "easy there boy, no need to say a word."
This man was none other than the owner and founder of the Helping Hand company, Sagimaru.
As Hokori closed his mouth, a sudden thought voiced itself. "How did you know who I am?"
His question caused the wrinkled man to laugh. "Haha, well if you must know, I was told about you from one of the workers there! Have you perhaps met with Myrmex? I heard he's the head cook in Styx now, boy it felt like years have passed since I met him. No wait, that expression's wrong...it has been years."
"Oh! I met him, he seems pretty nice. Are you related to him?"
Sagimaru shook his head. "No, no. But I did know him for many years. It was my suggestion that brought him to Styx, we sometimes talk every now and then. While I'm not his father, I hope that you two will get along."
Bowing a little, the rookie guard smiled. "Of course!" he said, straightening himself up as a sudden thought entered his mind. "Um, well...what are you doing out here?"
Sagimaru stretched his arms out a bit. "Right now I'm just taking a break, but other than that I am here on business purposes. I just have to pick something up later before it gets too late, then I plan on making a stop at Styx a few days later when my schedule lightens up," nodding, he then saw the look on the young man's face, the look of someone who wanted to help, so the elder pointed behind him. "Don't worry about me sonny, I got some helping hands to keep me in line." Laughing at his own joke, Hokori followed where he pointed.
Looking past the old man, the much younger man spied two other men, sitting at one of the cafe's outdoor tables. Both men were in black suits, one being pretty tall with a stoic look and neck-length dark red hair while the other was smaller, blonde and had a pair of silverish steel wings popping out of their back while they drank some sort of drink.
As the steel winged man gave a brief wave, the fox turned back to the old man upon hearing, "So what are you doing out here?"
"Me? I'm just out on a jog, today's my day off."
Rubbing his chin, the old man leaned a bit towards the young fox-eared man. "Are you perhaps looking for someone?"
"Hm? Why would you say that?" the young man with a mixture of sandy blonde and white hair asked.
Without missing a beat, the old man answered, "when I saw you, it looked like you were looking around for someone..."
"...oh..." the guard's bushy tail slowly came to a stop. "Was I that obvious?!"
The neatly combed near grey haired man tapped his black, fancy cane down softly in some eureka moment. "Ah! Are you perhaps looking," his head snapped around before leaning in closer, whispering now, "for the one named Mariko Tsujihara?"
Poor Hokori froze. "What do I say? What do I do?!" luckily for him though, a kind hand patted his shoulder.
"Well, whether you are or not, I won't tell a soul!" he whispered, "now, perhaps I can lend you a helping hand!"
"...Huh?"
He had no time to think.
Without a word, Sagimaru placed his hand onto the 'disguised' guard's shoulder. "What's gonna- Wait, what's happening? My body feels...stronger." looking down at his own hands, he then looked up to see the older man smiling, a smile of pride.
"There we go," the elder said amused, "now you can get out there and track down whoever you're looking for!"
The now weird feeling fox could only ask, "what did you do?"
Sagimaru's smile widened. "I boosted your quirk with my own."
Helping Hand: Sagimaru's quirk allows him to boost a person's quirk and overall performance!
The little fox went wide-eyed. "A support quirk! A true helping hand!"
"How are you feeling? If you need time to adjust to your boosted quirk, please take some time to adjust. I must say though, it doesn't just boost your quirk, but also your body as well."
"I feel fine," the large eyed fox nodded, "my body definitely feels stronger. So it's quirk and overall performance then?"
Tapping his cane on the ground, Sagimaru flexed his fingers. "It's quite the quirk, isn't it? Now, I should mention that what I gave you is only a temporary boost."
"Temporary? Then does that mean…?" instead of asking the one question on his mind, he instead asked, "how long do I have?"
"I would say, perhaps a couple of hours up to a full day." before Sagimaru could continue, his eyes snapped over to a nearby bush.
Following the man's actions, Hokori's eyes landed directly onto whatever it was on the leaves within the bush. A small rhinoceros beetle. "A beetle?"
"Now that's a good specimen," Sagimaru smiled, picking the bug up on his finger. "Brings me back to the days of my summer youth."
Suddenly, the ringtone caught the young man's ears.
Sagimaru was quick to answer. "Hello? Oh, Sente! How are you?"
Hokori watched as the older gentleman removed the phone a tad from his ear. "I should probably get going..."
"Yes, yes. I'm actually going there now! Please give me one second." removing the phone from ear, he gave the fox a smile. "I got to go, it was a pleasure meeting you in person, Hokori Arashi."
"Likewise!" the fox called out, watching the old man walk away as his own phone went off. Quickly checking the contents, after shifting his special-made headphones, he noticed the text. "I NEED TO GET BACK TO THE BUS! I SPENT TOO MUCH TIME HERE!"
And with speed that he wasn't used to, Hokori sped away.
"I heard about what happened way back when," the sandpaper skinned inmate that was Arai gave the few others sitting at the table he oh so intruded on a look. "How was it?"
Kuroishi sat silently as a tiny smile popped out of nowhere for less than a second while Gin shrugged. "I didn't want to give that bastard the satisfaction." huffed the man who could break his body down.
When Arai looked over to the purpled haired inmate with yellow, slitted eyes. Juro could only shrug. "Don't ask me."
"Ah…" as he got comfortable, as much as one could here, he continued the conversation. "Oh yeah, I thought I saw Inyoku here just a moment ago..."
Juro nodded, "he said something about getting ready to take someone down. Mul something."
Then, the double doors opened as an inmate walked in. The lanky inmate with bloodshot eyes, his sleeves were rolled up just enough to show the veins and bruises on his arms. Rhys Dignam had entered the large open space.
No one batted an eye when they saw Rhys finally make his way into the ward, though a rare grin plastered itself on his face for one reason or another. As he took one of the far seats, out of the way from everyone else. Arai and the others were about to just go about their regular days.
That was until Gousen walked into the ward.
Gin Shinoha sighed softly, "seems someone hasn't learnt their lesson."
The most shocking thing about it was what Gousen did next. Giving a scowl to everyone in the wide, open room. He sat down.
Sitting a table behind Rhys, he just sat there. Silently.
"...did the guards do something to him?" the sunglasses wearing Arai asked, turning to snake-eyed Juro.
"I do not know. It could be possible." they said, shrugging.
The greyish Gin scoffed. "If they did, then about bloody time they did something about that nutcase."
"He's not the only nutcase here you know..." Juro shook their head and turned their attention to the two inmates at the furthest tables.
The shade wearing inmate however, couldn't help but take notice of Rhys' smile. "I don't think I've ever seen Rhys smile like that, ever."
"It's creepy," someone who walked by added.
"Perhaps he saw first hand what happened to him?" Juro added, glancing over to Arai. "We can only speculate."
Kuroishi narrowed his eyes, "he was always touchy around others."
"Whatcha mean big guy?" asked Arai, lowering his sunglasses a bit as he looked up at the tall man.
"Touchy?" it even got Gin's attention.
Nodding, the stoic long haired man continued, "there were times where I felt his eyes on my back and other times where I saw him approach some others, patting their backs and whatnot."
"That doesn't sound too bad..." the sandpaper man stretched his arms. "So what happened to them?"
Kuroishi tapped his foot. "It differed between them, but once I saw a man in complete pain and the other looking like he was going to erupt from ecstasy."
He soon fell silent.
"Their condition could be entirely unrelated," the purple haired inmate shook their head. "But that smile...I definitely felt his stare once long ago, as if sizing me up."
"...it still happens to me even now..." the bone man quickly added.
A dark, jovial laugh escaped Gin's mouth. "Oh that's rich. Real fucking rich! So that's why I caught the bastard giving me a look after smashing some guy's face in, it's like he's looking for a target!" a slow scowl grew on his face. "Maybe I should teach him a lesson too..."
As Gin was about to stand, Rhys stood first, almost as if he was lost in his own world and walked off, but not before doing a short little gesture to follow him with his finger.
"So you're calling me out, huh?" Gin stood, but soon realised that it wasn't at him at all.
When Rhys left, they all noticed that Gousen followed shortly after. Exactly where Rhys went.
"Yeah, something's definitely up." the golden blonde Arai mumbled. "Hey, where are you two going?"
"I want to see what happens." both Gin and Kuroishi muttered as they followed Rhys' tracks.
That left Juro and Arai alone at the table. "Sadists, both of them." the snake eyed inmate sighed. "Are you going to follow them?"
"Are you?"
Juro had nothing to say to that.
Back in the bus, the driver Zugai rested with her feet up on the wheel. Out of the whole group, they definitely scored the easier job.
All they had to do was wait in the bus until the team caught Mariko or they were moving to a new location in order to capture Mariko. Though, the driver did pause to consider the other person sitting towards the back. She had an extra job after all.
Protection of the bus while the others were away.
"Though that shouldn't be a problem," hummed the skull-headed individual, tapping her boot on the steering wheel. "Like anyone is going to attack a bus out of the blue. That would just be crazy."
She ceased her tapping. It was a bit too quiet. She was expecting to have a fun conversation with Suimin, yet it was silent. "Perhaps she's having a nap?" she thought, but once she took a look into the rear view mirror, she had to turn around.
Suimin, the normally energetic bird with the largest smile any prison guard could form, was just sitting there in silence with a blank expression.
"Suimin...are you okay?" she called out, taking her foot off the wheel to turn around. "You're pretty silent back there..."
"Uh?" the grey harpy perked her head up. "I'm fine."
The skull sighed. "You had me worried there for a second, at least you're taking the job seriously."
Silence only lasted a short three seconds. "...Job?"
If Zugai had eyebrows, she would have raised them in a confused manner. Alas, she had none. "Yeah…? Anyways, just keep an eye out for anyone thinking they can just attack us and keep an eye out for Mariko too."
The driver at this point, turned back around and put her feet back on the wheel...before her jaw dropped at what she heard. "Who's Mariko again?"
"EH? Did you forget? Suimin, are you okay?"
Suimin watched as the driver approached. "Mhm. I'm fine, just what are we doing?"
"Seriously, are you okay?"
Once again, she affirmatively nodded. "I'm fine."
Zugai pulled back, walking back to the front of the bus. "She had been silent for a couple of minutes now. Maybe she just zoned everything out? Nah, not possible." pulling out her smartphone, she wondered if she should make a call before pausing. "Wait! Could this be a prank of hers?!"
Looking back at the winged woman, she had no idea what to think. So she sat back down and scrolled through her apps. If it was some elaborate prank, she wouldn't fall for it...but...
Shaking her head slightly, she focused back on her mobile before clicking on an app. She'll keep an eye on her just in case, but until then...
Maybe she'll get that five star pull this time?
Dahlia walked to the break room with one single thought, "I really am the only sane one in here."
Catching one of her co-workers naked with one of their prisoners wasn't something she thought she'd see.
"Seems like everything's coming out of the woodwork now. What next? Muika voicing her disagreement with someone?" with a huff, she reached out for the break room door.
However, someone inside beat her to it.
"Oh Dahlia, what great timing."
"Alexios..."
With a smile, the taller guard asked, "are you free tonight?"
"I am. Why?"
The smile widened on the guard's face. "That's great! Since we're free, and got the go ahead, we're going to go out for the night! It's just a small little pub-restaurant kind of place area pretty close to the prison, which I guess is still far considering where we are. Would you like to come with us?"
Dahlia paused. "Would it be beneficial for me to go with them? It could be 'fun' to experience that kind of nightlife..."
"Oh yeah, I should mention that Tai, Osamu and Muika are also going. Shi might be going too if I ask her."
The guard shrugged, though she had already made her decision. "Very well, I'll go too."
"Great! I'll give you a ring once everything's ready. We'll be taking one of the spare buses. Saves some time, you know."
Nodding, she watched the Greek guard walk off, probably to find Shi. This left her alone as she entered the break room. Only thing to do now was wait until she was called.
She already got herself comfortable. "I wonder how tonight will go then..."
As everyone got back on the bus, one after the other, it was time to move to a new location.
"How was the search on your end?" the hero sidekick asked.
The 'drunk' sighed, sitting down and taking the entire seat. "Not good. Didn't find a single lead. Anything I did find turned up being completely wrong."
When the sidekick turned to the rookie, he immediately gave his report. "I didn't find anyone who matched Mariko's description nor did I find any clues in the area."
It was now the hero's turn as she pulled out her phone, tapping away on it. "After making my rounds around the initial site and surrounding areas, the only sightings I've had of the woman was of a small recording of the recent theft incident," as she gave her report, she turned to the driver. "Since the target hasn't been found in this area, we should go check another location."
Meanwhile, Hokori pulled out his phone and it wasn't just him, though the other two in the bus (asides from Zugai) just leaned to look at Hokori's phone.
It was a video, sent by the sidekick. Showing a shield-wielding hero take care of a golden thief and a winged one taking care of another with a bag.
"Wait a second," Hokori mumbled, "I've seen that guy before!"
"You did?" Dion raised an eyebrow, "the former pro-hero Icarus?"
That took the tailed guard by surprise. "Former? I mean, yeah. I saw him and the owner of Helping Hand."
"You meet with Sagimaru too?"
A sudden whistle came from the bird. "I haven't seen Dion so interested before!"
"Yeah. I did, he even boosted my quirk for a bit."
Dion messed around with his long, red haired wig. "If that's the case, we better make good use of it."
Shifting in his seat for a bit, the newbie had to ask. "Have you met him before? Well, I mean he is the founder of Helping Hand, it sounds like-"
A raised hand was all it took to silence the fennec fox. "Yeah, I've met Sagimaru before, he comes to Styx from time to time. He's a good man, a few of us had the pleasure of helping him out from time to time."
"Wow. I wonder what kind of business he has at Styx…?"
"Shouldn't we be watching that video again?" Suimin asked, tapping the fox's shoulder with her talons.
"Oh right!" His question would have to wait for now.
Quickly rewinding the video, a brief glimpse of a silver haired woman appeared for roughly three seconds. Appeared to have been knocked to the ground and definitely not the focus of the video. It was hard to tell if she even was Mariko. If that was Mariko, she got herself a haircut.
"So someone did take a video of the incident..." Hokori didn't really know how to feel about that.
Dion huffed, "you'd be surprised to see how many people take videos of fights between heroes and villains. Sells like hotcakes on certain days, even more so with Icarus being in action."
Coughing, the hero got the three's attention back to what's important, right as the bus started to move.
"I also asked around to see if anyone saw the target," began the sidekick, "I asked it in a way that concealed our intentions. A simple lost wallet type of story. Sadly, there were no sightings."
"Couldn't she at least dye her hair?" asked the fennec fox as the thought just entered his mind. "...that would make things difficult."
The sidekick however shook her head. "I doubt that. If she were to dye her hair, she would have found a way to obtain money and expose herself to the world. It would be better to just lie low then risk any chance of being spotted. If anything, a homemade haircut would probably be what we should look for..."
Then the drinker that was currently going by Shuten asked, "where's the next stop then?"
Taking a seat near the front of the bus, the hero sidekick snapped her fingers. "That's the thing. There's a lot of areas to check and we need some confirmation on the target's whereabouts for the best spots to check."
"Damn, so we're in the dark..." muttered Arashi, hanging his head.
"However," they (the hero) continued, "if we're going by the target's plan, we should target the best place to lie low, though that could be anywhere."
Already on his back, Dion just waved his hand while ignoring the soft wing from the woman behind him poking his stomach. "Is there any security footage we can get from the area we could use?"
"If there is, we either have to wait until we're given access to the footage or we could beat around the bush and get it ourselves if one of us knew how to get into the logs. So far, with a hero with us, the only option we have is waiting around and hope that having a hero requesting it personally pushes things along faster." the skull headed bus driver added.
"Bus routes."
"Huh?"
Hokori, much like everyone else, turned his head in the direction of the harpy. He couldn't help but notice Zugai's stare at the bird and what she said next made him think. "How about we use the bus routes? Drive around and if we don't see her, move onto others! Unless she's taking a train, we should be able to find her by bus!"
"That's...that's...genius!" the hero grinned, having already stood. "Taking a train carries the risk of running across police officers doing an inspection to make sure you've paid while on the train should you bypass that. A bus is much less likely to run into that problem!"
"Damn Suimin, you definitely got your head in the game." if Dion could raise a glass or bottle to her, he would.
In response to the surprisingly sober man's smile, Suimin Hatori could only laugh back. "Hehehe!"
"Then it's settled then, let's scope out the bus stops and gather the bus routines," nodded the sidekick, with an equally large smile on her face. "I can see why you hang out with these people from time to time, Furore."
"We should get a move on then!" the fox guard nodded as his tail wagged happily.
Suddenly a pair of wings shot into the air. "What are we waiting for?! Let's track her down and bring her back!"
'Shuten' couldn't help but chuckle. "She's definitely enthusiastic about this, very well. Let's go to the next stop."
As the engine roared, the driver's empty eyes stared into the rearview mirror. "You okay back there?"
Looking around, the talon foot Suimin looked around the bus. "Me? Of course! Now is no time to dawdle, we gotta bring Mariko back! Pedal to the metal!"
Zugai couldn't help but grin, to the best of her abilities of course. "Already on it."
It was late, the sun had already set and he was already at his limits. He was about to expire any time now. Closing his eyes right now would have felt amazing for approximately two and a half seconds before he fell from the tree and disappeared from the world. Leaving no trace of his existence behind, and the truth would remain in the darkness.
That is if there was any truth at all. Right now his stakeout was proving to be a waste of time.
The clone of Bunri sighed. The sun was long gone and the pay phone was just a short walk away from where he sat, the dense foliage of leaves. On the plus side, he did meet a little sparrow. That was cool.
"Hm?" he glanced down back to the building, he could hear footsteps approaching. "Is it just a late night walker? Or do we actually have something here?" he wondered.
Thanks to the time and dense cover he had, he was in the best spot right now. Sadly, he should never get his hopes up, many times he heard footsteps, all those passing by, some having some rather interesting chats. Like that one pair talking about trying that new cafe that opened up a couple of days ago.
Still, he hoped something good happened soon.
When the footsteps stopped, Bunri's clone would have sighed. As he fought off the allure of sleep, he heard the footsteps grow louder, carrying the thuds on smooth concrete. That's when he saw.
Peeking from the tree a bit, he witnessed a figure walk into the building. A covered figure.
"This is pretty late for a visit...shame they're covered up. Must not be taking any chances if they're up to something..."
It took minutes before the figure walked out again, now clutching a box in their arms. "It could be ashes?" his guess would go unanswered. "Not like I could just run up and demand a on the spot search..."
The clone could hear it now. Sirens.
That or being destroyed and returning to wherever it was clones went when they died.
If he was a hero or working for the police, sure. He could definitely do that. At the end of the day, he was just a prison guard.
"I guess that counts as something. It's hard seeing their face, they must be the paranoid sort. At least I got something, gotta follow their car."
The box holding figure walked off, Bunri gave it some time to allow himself to drop onto the ground. Now he had options. One, go and confront whoever remained inside about what just happened. Two, go chase down the car. Three, go to the pay phone and report in.
The cloning guard's clone stalked the box-holding figure until said figure got to a car, the door already open and waiting. As soon as the box holder jumped in, the car took off down the street. Bunri was already on the move.
Running out to the side walk, he narrowed his eyes while honing in on the number plates.
"...Fuck."
Now what was he supposed to do? He barely even saw the number plates! Now he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, it could have been a late night visit to collect the ashes of a loved one.
"I...should go report it..." after sighing, he carried on down the road until he reached a rare pay phone. "Thank god." digging his hands into his pockets, he was very glad the original gave him change to dial exactly one phone call. Picking up the phone and dialing his mobile number, something he was glad to have learnt by heart (thanks to many and I mean many attempts), he heard a very familiar voice.
"Hello?"
"Hello me, it's you."
"What's your status?"
Sighing, the clone began, "something happened. Just now I witnessed someone walk in and out of the morgue. It could be the person we're looking for, but at the same time easily could be unrelated."
Bunri on the other end hummed, tapping his finger on a table (presumably to the clone). "Did you get the license plate?"
"No, I was unable to."
"Damn. We might have to rely on any nearby security cameras from the morgue, but that could take a while..."
The clone sighed, running their hand through their hair. "And that's not including the fact that it could just be collecting ashes, even though I personally doubt it," as the clone leaned on the pay phone, his eyes blinked as a semi-truck drove right by. "Anyways, the direction the car went was down to the supermarket area, probably hitting the highway."
"Hm, I'll ask Seimei and see if we can get access to security camera footage of the night, both around the morgue and highway. Good work, feel free to off yourself whenever."
"Haha, I'm a clone so I should just end myself. Very funny, like we haven't heard that before." As the clone droned on, he heard another vehicle approach.
Looking up, the clone saw a bus as he chatted with himself. Who's the crazy one now? The bus was one of those transport buses and as they passed on by, the clone couldn't help but look at those seated within.
In total, not many people were sitting in the bus at this time of night. A man wearing headphones, a woman with short cut silver hair looking down, a couple leaning on one another in a romantic way, a-
Hold on. Silver haired woman?
Gulping, the clone mumbled out, "so...we're still looking for the inmate...right?"
The guard was paler than the arctic snow. How did he slip up this badly? Now he had not only the wrath of the warden on him, but the wrath of Cerberus as well.
Shi circled him, like a shark or a pack of wolves would. Ready to strike at any moment.
Didn't help that she was growling.
"Hey, I-" as soon as he tried to speak, the jackal's bared teeth showed itself to the sitting guard's face. The amount of sharp teeth, capable of tearing flesh made him shut up.
Backing off, she began to circle him once more. It only left him with one single thought. A thought that summed when he was caught in the act, when the acts started and where he was right now, in this empty interrogation cell.
"I'm fucked."
"You should have known better," spoke Shi for the first time since he was brought in. The pressure in the room made him gulp.
He tried to get a word out, but the image of those dangerous, skin ripping fangs popped into his mind once more.
"You bring shame to Styx." growled the jackal headed woman.
"You don't need to tell me how badly I fucked up alright?!" he inwardly screamed. A part of him did want to just scream it out.
He preferred not to get punched.
Shi really packed a punch.
"Of course I get caught. I knew it was coming one of these days! Why now?! I knew I shouldn't have gone through with it." As the guard sat there in silence, berating himself, Shi crossed her arms with one of her trademark death stares.
Then, Eris entered the room.
The pressure increased.
With a guard dog right behind him and the warden at the front, he already felt the sweat coming.
As the warden took up a seat, the eyepatch wearing woman just stared and stared. "Sleeping with a inmate is very serious, you know that right?"
The look in her eye knew that he knew. Of course it was! That tiny sliver of hope that he had, some miracle of getting away, had long since faded.
"How long have you been having intercourse with Akita?"
A hand gripped onto his shoulder. "Speak."
Lowering his head, the guard mumbled. "It all started...a few years ago..."
"Years?" the warden frowned, glancing to Shi. "You were also one of the primary guards stationed at the co-ed ward's female ward gate. Did you let Akita in because of your 'relationship' with her?"
He nodded his head. "Yes..."
"So did you let her into the female ward during Vito's outbreak?"
Sweat now poured down the guard's face. "I did...and..." the last bit came out as nothing but a whisper.
"And what?" Shi barked, gripping him harder.
"Shit, I forgot her hearing is way better! I slipped up!" as the other hand placed itself on his other shoulder, he shouted out. "It wasn't the only time I let her out into the co-ed ward!"
"...what?"
"I...I let her out into the co-ed ward multiple times, I kept it off the records and made sure to go through the camera feed to play recorded footage to hide that fact!"
A plus to his confession was the removal of Shi's death grip. The con though was the glares he received. "Having sex with an inmate and then letting them do whatever they want...you really messed up."
The guard said nothing.
"Now, we better get your paperwork in order." Eris frowned, this time for another reason. She had to put off her original task for now thanks to this mess. Standing from where she stood, she looked down at the culprit. "I hope you're ready to face the consequences in court."
He said nothing. He just stared at the ground, shivering with a sniffle as Eris left him in that small little holding cell.
As Shi turned to follow her boss, she asked, "what's the plan now?"
"We're going to have a chat with Akita now."