The news the next day was more than exciting to see for Toshinori. He watched the bold, red words cross the screen as the distressed news anchor tried to explain just what had happened. They were missing details. Many, many details, but he couldn't expect much more from them. They weren't there, after all.
"Last night, two teens from The Heroes Summer Camp program went missing. The testimony of a third teen, who had apparently been with her two friends, tells of this story."
The screen changed to an recording of the young girl he had met just last night. Toshinori's skin itched to do something about her still. She was a loose end and he never left loose ends.
She was wrapped in a blanket and tears were streaming down her face. Although she was clearly distressed, she showed no other emotion on her face. Her eyes were glassy, almost as if she wasn't aware anyone else was around her, questioning about what happened the night before. Despite her disturbed state, she answered their questions clearly.
"They just wanted to go exploring around the forest a little bit. It was innocent enough. We heard rumors of the forest being haunted and after Watori found some evidence of that, we went looking after lights out."
Ah. The adventurous nature of youth. Toshinori remembered being her age. He was quite a handful for those around him and despite his quirklessness, he tended to go off on his own. It seemed that having a quirk didn't really do much when it came to a situation like this. What a shame that is.
"When we were looking at whatever dead animal Watori found, we were attacked." She started to shiver. "I couldn't even see what it was. It was like...like a giant beast. It had an axe with it." Her earlier calm dissolved as she started started to gag. The camera shut off and the news anchor came back. He didn't look the least bit happy about this and that only seemed to make Toshinori laugh.
"As you've heard, there was an attack on these young teens. We're not sure just yet what it was, but there's proof to believe it was either a villain hiding away in the forest or something beyond this world."
Toshinori did laugh aloud to that one. They couldn't be serious! "We have a rough image of whatever this thing was from our sketch artist. From this point on, that camp site will be vacated until a hero comes to survey the area. We'll return once we have more information about this case as well. Now, to go onto our next story about a polar bear wearing socks-"
The TV screen went black as Toshinori pressed the off button on his remote. He set his cup of tea down and clasped his hands together. He would go onto his phone for more information about the case, just to see how close of an image they got to him, but the worry of Tsukauchi finding that in his search history posed an issue. He looked suspicious already with how close this murder was to him and any further evidence could get him into some serious trouble.
It had been a good call on his part to move the bodies beyond his boundaries, just to avoid another piece of evidence against him, but he wasn't completely in the clear just yet. It wasn't something he really felt it had to worry about, however. Standing up, Toshinori looked out of his living room window towards the forest. Those bodies were still out there and as much as he hated to leave a good catch out to waste, he needed the police to find them. Without bodies, they couldn't prove that Toshinori was incapable of committing it.
With a smile, he ventured towards the outside, grabbing a large black bag on his way out. It contained the gloves and coat he had worn last night. He carried it over his shoulder as he wanted outside and down the porch stairs. From there, he walked up to the little fire place he made out of larger rocks around the area and set the bag down beside it. Opening it, he dumped the items into the fire pit -they were just barely small enough to fit inside- and struck a match from his pocket. He hadn't started a fire in the pit just yet, wanting to save it for a time like this.
The little twigs and weeds caught first, turning dark and curling until the burning energy as it carried the flames up. From there, the fire started dancing across the sides of the logs and then began eating away at the underside. It took a minute or two for it to grow enough to catch the clothes as well, but once it did, the flames spread wildly. They engulfed the entire jacket within minutes and quickly ate at the outside, making the fabric dark and stiff as the holes in it grew wider. The inside stuffing of his jacket fell apart and curled into itself as it burned.
The sight was beautiful. Absolutely lovely and Toshinori felt he could watch it forever, but sadly, he had more work to do. Grabbing up the now empty plastic bag, he walked further into the forest and stopped near the base of a tree. His axe laid against the side, clean and ready to be used again. He smiled fondly at it, as if it were an old lover and he picked it up. Toshinori took a moment to caress it's handle, admiring the fine work he had put into it's finish. The blade was still sharp and it shinned with it's new cleaning. Oh, how he loved that axe.
Moving forward, Toshinori passed a few more trees before stopping in front of a very specific one. There was a little hole by it's roots where a rabbit family lived. He found it on his way home yesterday, which was a bit of a miracle with how dark it was. Kneeling down, he used his phone's flashlight to peer into it and saw a mother rabbit cuddled up against her babies. She turned her fat head to look at him and he smiled in return. They really were so cute.
"Come here, little one." He called as he reached his hand into the hole. The mother rabbit scratched at him, but he paid her no mind as he wrapped his fingers around her soft middle and pulled her out by force. She dragged a few babies out with her, but the majority stayed inside. Now that she was out, he pressed her firmly into the ground and readied his axe with the other. She began to squirm and scratch at him with all of her might, but the poor creature was too weak.
"I know." He spoke in a tone of sympathy. "It's scary, isn't it. But death never waits for us. I will make sure to protect the children you leave behind." He stroked the top of her head with the edge of the axe blade, his smile growing fonder as he lined it with her neck. The little babies were rolling around on the floor beside her, unaware of their mother's fate. "Oh, the tragedies of youth." He whispered before lifting the axe and thrusting it down again in a smooth, solid motion.
She stopped scratching immediately and Toshinori found it oh, so satisfying. He watched her head roll to the side as he moved her over. He felt the urge to look deeper into the hole he had just made. He wanted to examine it and feel the blood. It was warm, he could tell, but he had to hold himself back. This wasn't a kill for the satisfaction of it. This was to protect his little secrets.
With a deep breath, he set his axe down and out of the way before pulling off his shoes. They were the same ones he wore last night and although the forest floor was covered in leaves and his tracks were too faint to follow, he still couldn't take any chances. He carefully slipped both shoes into the hole, just beside where the other babies laid, crying and calling for the warmth they lost.
"Don't cry." He hushed softly as he picked up the limp body of their mother. "She's coming back." He slowly inserted the dead body into the hole as well, just in front of the babies and his shoes. Good. It completely covered them and if anyone dared to look inside, they would only see a family of little rabbits. He lets the head roll in as well before standing up. The other babies would either find their way back inside or die in the cold, but he didn't care much to save them himself.
Toshinori fought the voices in his mind as he walked back, trying to clean off the few drops of blood from his hands. His socks were getting dirty, but he already knew that would happen. He had plenty of other socks to wear. It wasn't really a problem.
Now that his evidence was hidden, all he had to do was wait for someone to come asking about the case and he would simply show them what was already there. He was not a suspect. Despite his reputation over the past few months, he's a changed man and the sensor around his ankle proved just as much.
...
It took all of three days for the police to show up and when they did, Tsukauchi was not among them. It was suspicious, but Toshinori figured the detective wasn't exactly on this case and therefore, wouldn't be involved with the investigation.
"So, tell me why exactly you've come." Toshinori asked kindly as he set down the last cup of tea. They were seated around his small table and he offered them the best hospitality he could.
"Your house was close to the murder that happened a little while ago. You're not an immediate suspect, but we just wanted to speak with each of the people living around here." The detective nodded as he took a sip of his tea. Toshinori watched him drink carefully.
That made sense. Being the closest one, he was an obvious person to talk to. "I see." He answered as he rubbed at his chin in thought. "I can't say I've really witnessed much around here. I was already asleep when it happened and I know I may not look it, but I'm a fairly deep sleeper. Usually thunderstorms and such loud noises don't really wake me up. If someone were screaming that close to my house...I can't guarantee that I would've heard it."
The detective nodded. "I assumed as much. We haven't gotten any noise complaints from any of your neighbors and we don't even know how quickly this person worked either."
Toshinori smiled. "It's a bit embarrassing to see that someone so close was murdered. As an ex-hero, you'd think I would wake up to a call of distress." His smile faded as he sighed. "I guess I really have fallen from my glory days."
The police officers around him looked nervous now. They all knew what he had done about six months ago and it was a heavy hit to society. No one expected All Might to go on a killing spree.
"I do have to say, though," Toshinori continued. "that I've recovered since then. I'm content to live out my years here, in the middle of no where. If anything, it's a nice change from the city life." He smiled again, which made the officers relax. He hadn't discussed his mental health publicly, mostly because he was never given the chance, but perhaps this little message from him could get passed around. If people heard from the detective that All Might is recovering and doing alright, then he might be allowed to visit every so often.
"I've heard of your time in the mental institution." The detective spoke carefully. "You had a remarkable recovery and were a delight to be around, even for the other patients. Honestly, the data shows that whatever...that was, it's likely more due to the stress of your situation than anything. A lapse in sanity, maybe from the loss of your quirk?"
This was interesting. Toshinori had always thought that they viewed him as some monster born from the star that was All Might, but this...this was something new. "May I be honest?" He asked, watching the detective carefully.
"By all means." He smiled and sat back in his chair. Too comfortable for someone who was sharing a room with the genius Toshinori was.
Toshinori took his time to sip at his tea, tasting the new leaves before setting it down again. "I believe it had something to do with my old nemesis." It's not a complete lie, after all.
This got their attention and the entire group of officers leaned forward. "All For One?" The rest winced at the sound of the villain's name, but Toshinori didn't shy away from it. He destroyed that man, after all. He had nothing to fear from him.
"He gave me a set of quirks when I visited him in Tartarus. The first time, at least." He waited for the information to sink in before continuing. "He planted something in me that wasn't human. It was like a demon taking over my thoughts and actions. UA tried to cover it up, claiming that I was just deteriorating after going into retirement, but really, it was that seed."
The detective sat forward, his eyes wide now. "Wait. You got quirks? Why was no one informed of this?"
Toshinori looked up as if he weren't surprised. And really, he wasn't. "Because UA wanted to keep it under lock and key. Why would they tell the public that All Might is losing his mind when it could tarnish their already depleting reputation?" He let out a sad sigh to gain some empathy. "By the time I finally resigned, it was too late. It took strong quirk suppressors and six months in that mental hospital to set things right again."
There was a long pause of silence. No one knew what to say. Toshinori let it stretch out for another minute or two before speaking again. He sounded chipper now and slightly apologetic. "I apologize for spending so much of your time on personal things. To answer your question about the case; no. I haven't seen anything or anyone walking around these woods, but I'll be sure to contact you if ever I do hear something."
There was more silence until the detective slowly nodded and stood up. The other officers followed his lead and eventually, they started walking towards the front door. Toshinori gave himself a mental pat on the back, proud of his little performance. He had hit them so hard with that personal information that they weren't able to fully think about the real reason they came nor could they protest to his claim of not witnessing anything. Besides, now that he had their empathy, they'd be less likely to accuse him of something like this, even if his past did support it.
He waved as the men left in their police cars and only shut the door once they were out of sight. With that, he let his kind exterior fall away with a smirk and he turned back towards his living room. He wasn't stupid. He knew that what he had just said would likely make it impossible for him to get his quirks back. He might be forced to live with those quirk suppressors for the rest of his life, but that wasn't stopping him. He almost didn't care with how beautifully he could use his axe.
"Nezu." He spoke to no one but himself. "I hope you have a plan to combat this blow to your reputation."
No one could deny what All Might had testified to. UA would now fall to his hands.
Author's Notes: I'm so sorry that I've been shoving this story aside! It's not nearly as popular as my other series that I'm working on, so it kinda ended up on the back burner. I will say that an end is in sight, though, it isn't too close. I do want to invite anyone to give a comment about what else they might like to see in this AU. I don't want people to feel unsatisfied with the ending, so I may include anything you guys suggest if it fits with my plans.