Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi rubbed the temple of his head slowly, taking a long drag on his cigarette as Toshinori threw several hand-written letters on the table.
One, two, three…
"You've got an admirer," the Detective deadpanned with his brow raised, forehead wrinkling in thought as his eyes scanned over the scruffy writing.
"I'd hardly call this creep an 'admirer' boy," Sorahiko grumbled from across the table, stubbing his own cigarette out in Tsukauchi's ashtray. "He gets a mystery email and then these letters show up. There's some real twisted bastards out there who are probably getting a major kick out of this."
"These things are more common than you think," Naomasa inputted before turning to Toshinori. "Regardless, you were right to contact me."
Sorahiko grumbled under his breath while Toshinori held out a copy of the email for Naomasa to take.
"They know where I live," the retired actor sighed. There had been two recorded murders in Musutafu City. He wasn't taking any chances.
Naomasa's eyes moved along the sheet of paper, his brows raising high as he reached the bottom of the page.
"You see…" His voice trailed off and he placed the sheet of paper on top of the three open envelopes, "It's odd. We're conducting a major investigation in Musutafu after the attack on a single mother. Then within a few days of each other; two children were murdered."
"A mother?" Toshinori repeated. He hadn't known about a woman being attacked.
Naomasa grimaced. "Yeah but it's being kept under wraps for now," darkened eyes fell on Sorahiko, who looked equally uncomfortable. "She was stabbed seven times and the attacker tried to set her apartment ablaze."
"Good God," Toshinori shook his head in disbelief. What was the world coming to?
"That's not the worst of it, though," Naomasa continued. "Along her arm were the initials of A.F.O. They wanted to keep this from you, Toshinori. But I just couldn't..."
Sorahiko closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. Toshinori recoiled as if he'd been struck.
"That's…" he found his voice, and it began to crack. "That's impossible."
That bastard was dead.
...Wasn't he?
.-.-.-.-.
.-.-.-.-.
"Yo Shindo," Izuku muttered aloud, scribbling the boy's name down in his Campus journal. "A student from a separate school but 1-A classmates competed with him often."
Izuku made a face, before jotting down a second name underneath his previous text; Ojiro Mashirao.
"Classmate and friend," he drawled out, circling both names and drawing arrows pointing toward an ink-smudged question mark.
Aside from the rivalry between the two schools, what was the connection between both of these murders?
When Uraraka had dropped the bombshell that was Ojiro's death, Izuku had been absolutely stunned. Nobody was expecting it and his heart truly did go out to Toru Hagakure who had been the one to find him…
It must have been horrifying.
His phone buzzed on his desk and he glanced down at the name of the sender.
It's from Mum.
She had just responded to a text message he'd sent her earlier on in the day.
Still feeling sore, baby.
But the doctors seem to be happy with how I'm doing.
...
That's good, Mum. I'm really glad to hear you're feeling better now.
I just wish I could come and visit.
...
I know, Izuku.
I'm so proud of how you've been coping through all of this.
I'm missing you so much, so you better let me give you the biggest hug when we see each other again!
I don't care how old you think you are, mister!
Izuku chuckled softly.
...
I'd like that, Mum. Missing you lots too.
...
Good. I'm off to bed now, sweetheart.
Take care of yourself.
I hope you're eating well! I'll talk to you more tomorrow. Love you lots!
...
Goodnight Mum. Love you too.
...
Sleep well, Izuku. (。 -ω-)zzz
...
BANG!
The sound jolted Izuku straight out of his seat in terror.
It was his dorm door. The entranceway to his room.
Had anybody else heard that?
Again, the door to Izuku's dorm room pounded violently, the handle suddenly rattling up and down like somebody was trying to force it open from the hallway.
Feeling his heavy pulse all over his trembling body, the teen watched the manic movements of the handle as if it were about to snap clean off the wooden frame.
And then, the movements stopped abruptly. Which left a long, heavy silence in the air.
Did he check who or what that was?
It was so silent, Izuku could hear his own rapid heartbeat thudding against his chest.
His mind was pleading for him to move his body forward and call out for help, but he could barely breathe properly due to fear and he was not opening his window.
The lock clicked and the door opened on it's own, Izuku finally gathered the nerve to move and snatched up an umbrella from the floor. It wasn't the greatest weapon but he wagered he could use it if somebody was stupid enough to jump out at him.
Upon opening, the door remained ajar while revealing the darkness of the dormitory corridor outside. Izuku shuffled forward, his socks catching the metal boards along the carpet and causing him to stumble slightly.
"Hello?" The green-haired boy cursed internally over how tiny his voice sounded.
Empty? Izuku's mind raced, numerous options flooding his brain while he tried to convince himself of a more reasonable explanation.
It felt like several pairs of eyes were watching him from the shadows. Staring and waiting for him to grow closer toward them.
Never had the darkness felt so menacing, like an abyss waiting to swallow the teen whole.
An abrupt sound of a stifled giggle nearly scared the soul out of him as he jumped forward, discarding the umbrella in his doorway before stepping out into the empty corridor. What use was a weapon against something you could see through?
"Do you remember me?" an intangible voice whispered and Izuku's body stiffened upon recognising who was talking.
It's them again.
He honestly didn't understand why they were hounding him. Why they had to constantly reach out to him like they needed something from him. What could he offer exactly?
Izuku slowly fumbled his way through the darkness, drawn towards a shape glowing pale white.
Was that...A person?
"Excuse me?" Izuku kept his voice low, not wanting to wake his classmates from the other dorm rooms. The humanoid shape turned around, revealing a very frail looking man staring back at him with a hollow expression.
"U-um?" Izuku whispered, the pale-faced man continued to stare at him wearily. His eyes were sunken and laden with heavy bags, like he hadn't slept properly in ages. Slowly his mouth moved, though no words were spoken.
Brother.
Izuku gulped, he could hear the voice of this man inside his own head.
Brother, stop.
Stop this now. Please.
Just let me go.
Izuku clenched his hands into tight fists, the ghostly man continuing to silently speak until he stopped and his expression morphed into one of hurt. Gradually, the figure lifted a bony arm towards his neck and uttered a word that Izuku finally could hear;
"Why?"
Izuku's mouth hung open in horror as the figure's arm dropped limply at his side and a large bloody gash was leaking out crimson from one side of the man's neck. Izuku's own neck began to sting and he hissed out through chattering teeth, feeling the sharp swell of pain with each second.
It felt like it was burning him too. Izuku touched his own neck and stared at the clean palm in utter confusion. Was the spirit doing this?
Brother.
These are lives we're talking about.
"I don't know what you want!" Izuku cried out, squeezing his eyes shut and cupping his hands over both ears. He felt like his neck was on fire and he just wanted the apparition to vanish.
"Midoriya?" Uraraka called out, opening her own dormitory door and dazedly rubbing at her eyes.
Izuku's head spun around at the half-asleep girl stepping out of her dorm room and his heart felt like it had turned to ice;
Standing behind Uraraka were more of them.
Six figures who were each clad out in different outfits that were torn and dirty, eyes were dull and void of any emotion while they stared right through the girl and into Izuku's core. Mumbled voices intertwined together like some kind of demonic choir and Izuku shakily reached for the wall for support as his legs fought for control.
The boy's breath hitched when the figures seemed to become more visible in the lamp-lit corridor. Suddenly, their bodies and faces began to morph, rotten flesh peeling from them as skeletal limbs reached out in a tangle of tissue and bone.
Collections of decaying hands stretched out towards him, scraping against each other and cracking loudly that made a sound that went right through him. Five out of seven had those initials again; the three letters A.F.O that had been carved right through to the bone.
And he couldn't even tell Uraraka what was happening.
She wouldn't understand and would probably spend the rest of their time at U.A avoiding him.
He didn't want that-
"I didn't want to die."
Izuku's stomach dropped.
"It was a mistake."
"I just wanted to go home."
"Found something that got me killed."
"My job was to help people. I was just doing my duty."
"The flames didn't kill me."
The carved initials began to bleed out, huge heavy blood fall dripping down at their decaying feet like a scarlet downpour.
Crimson trickled against the floor, spreading out like a thick red carpet as it threatened to touch the ends of Izuku's pyjama bottoms.
That was enough.
"Midoriya, what's wrong-"
The teen couldn't hold it back any more. He was absolutely petrified and could do the singular thing that his mind was screeching at him to do:
Scream.
.-.-.-.-.
.-.-.-.-.
Izuku awoke inside the infirmary. Uraraka was snoozing at the foot of his bed, shoulders and neck twisted uncomfortably. She was still in her bright pink pyjamas, had she stayed at his side the entire night?
His stomach churned with slight nausea and he breathed in slowly, praying he didn't empty his stomach all over himself.
The freckled teen kicked the bedsheet away and used it to cover the girl, patting her shoulder gently.
I'm sorry, Uraraka.
He never wanted his friends to see him carry on like the way he had last night. Everything was a blur the moment he began screaming until his throat was raw. He truly hoped Uraraka hadn't been too disturbed by the way he'd thrashed around in the hallway like he was about to be murdered.
Drip, drip, drip.
Izuku blinked towards the open infirmary door. Was something leaking outside?
It was loud, whatever it was.
A dark shape rushed past the door and Izuku's insides twisted. He had honestly hoped the spirits would've left him alone after having their fill of the hallway haunting.
Clearly, he had been wrong.
Fighting back a heavy sigh, he slowly padded across the infirmary and exited the room. The shape darted into one of the empty classrooms and Izuku squirmed on the spot.
Another high pitched giggle like the one last night emitted from down the corridor and Izuku strode forward. Even though he was afraid of them, he had to keep facing this until they told him what they wanted.
The giggling was getting louder.
Just like last night.
It sounded almost like...
The sound of children laughing? Izuku cocked his head to the side, peering into the empty classroom with a relieved gasp.
All of the windows were open, the shutters fluttering in the breeze as Izuku weaved himself in and out of the desks.
Whatever it had been, it was gone now.
Thank God.
His relief was short-lived when the laughter began once more, but this time, it came from outside of the open windows.
Izuku frowned. Would children even be allowed on the campus?
Could be a teacher's child or something, but still…
He looked out of his classroom window and spotted two boys running around the deserted field. Maybe he had been worried for nothing.
"Kids?" Izuku called down.
When they didn't respond, he raised his voice; "Hey! You two!"
They both immediately stopped in their tracks, not turning to look at him and instead looking out towards U.A's locked gate.
Izuku sighed, calling down to them "You shouldn't be here. Where are your parents?"
One of the children spun around, pale face and dull eyes raised questioningly. Across one side of his face was a jagged stitch going all the way up to his hair bangs. Izuku's throat gagged when the boy smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. He held up his hands and revealed bloody stumps where his fingers should have been.
The second, smaller one finally looked up, waving a pudgy hand repeatedly at Izuku like they knew each other. But then his arm dropped and he turned his back on the teen, revealing a massive bloody crater in his body. Scarlet soaked the backs of his legs while his bones pierced the outer layer of his skin like a pair of tiny wings sprouting from his own flesh.
This time, Izuku did vomit.
All over the table that he was standing over.