Toshinori stared at his computer screen with a heavy heart.
"We're finding it almost impossible to track the sender of that email," Naomasa had explained to him back at the station. "Which means this creep is most likely using a VPN."
Sorahiko and Toshinori had both remained silent, until Toshinori chose to speak up;
"What about that woman?"
"Huh?" Naomasa and Sorahiko chorused in unison.
"The lady who got attacked."
"Oh. Her name is Inko Midoriya."
Straight away, Sorahiko had begun cursing loudly while Toshinori stared ahead blankly. The second the Detective had uttered that name, realisation hit Toshinori like a bullet train.
Midoriya.
Izuku Midoriya.
The kid that had freaked him out in the elevator and had reached out through the old All Might site!
Toshinori cursed inwardly. He hadn't even thought about why the boy would be wandering around a hospital in the late evening…
He was visiting his mother.
The woman who had been attacked by some nutcase that had attempted to kill her. It made more sense now.
Poor kid…
Toshinori pulled up the email that Sorahiko had forwarded to him, highlighting the email address Izuku had provided and copying it with a few right clicks.
The blond then clicked on the Compose New Mail button and began typing;
...
To: UAMAIL ARCHIVE midoriyaizuku
Subject: Hello
Greetings, Young Midoriya.
My name is Toshinori Yagi and I am indeed the man you met at Musutafu General Hospital sometime ago. Some associates of mine found your email and got in contact with me, thank you for wishing to reach out. As you can imagine, I am very grateful to know that you enjoyed the show when it was running.
I'm afraid I must ask if it is possible if you could tell me more about what you know about a lady named Nana Shimura. Without delving into private matters, I was very close to her when she was alive.
May I ask if you're a relative, perhaps? Regardless, I was planning on visiting Musutafu City later on this week if you would be free to meet up and discuss?
Kind Regards
Yagi
...
It had taken a short while for a response.
But eventually, Toshinori got a reply from the boy;
...
From: Young Midoriya midoriyaizuku [UAMAIL ARCHIVE]
Subject: RE: Hello
To me
Hi, Yagi-san.
I'm sorry I took so long to reply, I haven't been feeling well lately.
I was happy when I read that you wanted to know more about Nana and I'll be glad to tell you. However, I am not her relative in any way. But I recently met somebody who shares her last name.
My teacher's may need to know more information before they give me permission so would you mind contacting the school? I'll let them know but they'll need you to confirm things too.
I hope this is okay!
Izuku
...
Excellent. They had a plan!
...
To: UAMAIL ARCHIVE midoriyaizuku
Subject: Confirmation
Good morning, Young Midoriya.
I have contacted your school. How does Friday at 5 PM sound to you? I'll be at Kenobi Café. Address details will be forwarded to your school HR.
Kind Regards
Toshinori Yagi
...
.-.-.-.-.
.-.-.-.-.
Izuku checked his watch, dodging crowds of people as he headed along the street that took him directly to where he was scheduled to meet Yagi-san.
Thankfully he'd been granted permission by his teachers but he was running a little bit late. He hoped Yagi-san wouldn't be mad at him.
Squinting at his Maps app, he grinned when he spotted the icon blinking back at him. The café was literally just around the corner. However, he almost bumped straight into a person in front of him and got a face full of material.
The slightly taller figure grunted loudly, hissing through gritted teeth as he turned and looked down on the freckled boy. Izuku squeaked out an attempted apology but found his words were lost the second his eyes met an intense pair of red that were glowering down at him.
The guy snarled again, his upper half concealed by the fact the hood of his jacket covered most of his head and face. Izuku realised he'd taken a couple of steps backward once the guy growled out something intangible and stalked away with his hands in the pockets of his jacket.
Wait-
"Red eyes?" Izuku spun around in the direction the person had gone, shakily exhaling when there was nobody there.
Was he right to be on major alert? Or was it all in his head?
"Hello Young Midoriya!"
Izuku turned around, spotting a familiar beaming blond waving directly at him. Beside him stood another taller man wearing a long brown leather trench coat and a fedora, concealing his features.
The boy rushed over, glancing nervously up at the stranger in the trench coat who regarded him with a dark expression.
"Young Midoriya, this is my friend Naomasa Tsukauchi," Toshinori introduced. "Naomasa, meet Izuku Midoriya."
"A pleasure," the other man greeted, offering his hand to Izuku.
"N-Nice to meet you, sir," Izuku stammered, shaking the Detective's hand.
Toshinori placed a hand gently on Izuku's shoulder, offering the boy a gentle smile, "Shall we go inside? We've got much to discuss."
"S-Sure," Izuku bobbed his head, entering the café first after the older male had held the door open for him to step through/
Naomasa watched the teen leave before looking back at Toshinori.
"Make sure you call me when you're leaving."
.-.-.-.-.
.-.-.-.-.
"This is what she looked like back in the day," Toshinori passed another photograph to Izuku, allowing the boy to look it over.
"She was beautiful."
"Indeed. We were devastated when we were told of her passing...But I visit Amidala often. She always loved flowers."
Amidala...?
"If you don't mind telling me," Izuku nibbled on his lip. "How did she die?"
"She lost her life after tracking down a serial killer," Toshinori turned the page. "The A.F.O murderer."
"A.F.O?" Izuku knew those initials. He thought back to his mother, Shindo, Ojiro…
"You're familiar with them too, aren't you?" Piercing cyan blues bore into curious emeralds. "I've kept a journal about him when researching who Daigoro was to Nana. She took on the case to track the killer down to try and avenge him, you know."
"Daigoro?"
"Nana's mentor," Toshinori explained, pulling out an old, dog-eared journal from his bag and setting it in front of Izuku. "She was there. When the bastard shot them off the road."
"The killer went after both of them?" Izuku gaped.
"Nana was still a trainee back then. Bullets pierced the wheels of Daigoro's squad car and they crashed a few yards ahead of where he was. That monster dragged Daigoro out of the car and stabbed him to death right in front of her eyes. It traumatised her massively."
"It must have been awful for her," Izuku agreed, nerves tugging away inside his body. He couldn't imagine witnessing something like that. Yet, Nana still remained on the police force and began a seemingly successful career…
Toshinori seemed to read his mind, because his thin lips stretched into a strained smile. "She was an incredibly strong woman, our Nana. She was like the mother I never had."
"Oh, you were-"
"Adopted. When I was very young."
"S-So Sorahiko?"
"Is my adoptive-father, yes," Toshinori nodded curtly, taking a sip of coffee. "I used his last name as a credit in my acting career. He's not the warmest person but he chose me out of every other kid. He's my Dad, regardless of what people say."
Izuku smiled warmly at that.
"Come on then, kid. What's your story?"
Translated to: Explain what that display was back in the elevator.
The green-haired teen made his choice;
"I can see ghosts," he finally answered, looking Toshinori dead in the eye. "It's something that I've been able to do since I can remember."
The blond nodded, giving Izuku his complete attention, "Are they-" Toshinori coughed into his arm, glancing over his shoulder. "Can you…?"
"I can't," Izuku answered, understanding what Toshinori was trying to ask him; "They only appear when they want to. I have no control over it."
Toshinori said nothing, silently prompting Izuku to continue;
"So, I also attend therapy sessions at a clinic on the other side of the city because of this. One day, I met somebody there. Would you like to know his name?" Izuku lifted his drink against his lips, "Tenko Shimura."
"Shimura?" Toshinori leaned forward, interested. "You think that he's connected to Nana?"
"Well, I mean," Izuku shrugged his shoulders, setting his cup back down on the table. "It adds up, how many other Shimura's do you know?"
Good point.
"It still could be a coincidence," Izuku finished. "I thought it'd be good to pass it on to you so you could do your own research. When I mentioned my own family issues, he seemed to agree with me."
That's putting it mildly... Izuku shuddered over the abysmal awkwardness of his first conversation with Tenko.
"And you think his family issues could be because of Nana's death?"
Izuku met Toshinori's eyes, "It could be anything. But he's a patient at a clinic for support counselling, so maybe you could reach out to him and see if he did know Nana?"
It made sense to Toshinori, but was it even his place to reach out to this young man? What would- could he do if Young Midoriya's theory was correct?
Nana had put her only child into Care after her husband's death. A single boy that she had named Kotaro. The rest was a complete mystery to the retired actor.
Sorahiko never wanted to talk about Nana's family. Toshinori had thought it had been because of painful memories, but perhaps...
Just maybe there was some kind of connection? Regardless, it obviously wasn't good as his father-figure always shut down any attempts to discuss the Shimura family...
When that entered his mind, Toshinori soon wandered too far got lost in his own thoughts.
Noticing the elder male's silence, Izuku threw up his hands in a sudden panic, "I-I didn't mean you have to do that! It was just a suggestion, I swear!"
And for the first time in a long while, Toshinori began to laugh.
It was so pleasantly odd.
This kid reminded Toshinori so much of himself back when he was a teenager. It felt nostalgic, to say the least.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Izuku and Toshinori, a pair of pale hand prints pressed up against the glass window of the café.
There stood a male figure, face completely covered by the large hood over his head, continued to watch the pair at the back of the room like his life depended on it.
Slowly, a grin spread out across the mystery man's lips.
So that's how it is…