"Hey, Pop," Kazuho turned her head to see the shapely, black haired form of Midnight entering, a coy smile on her face, "Are you alright to talk, or do you want to be left alone?"
Before her conversation with All Might, Kazuho would have chased out the woman without a moment of hesitation. She'd been in a dark, hopeless place and had just wanted to be left alone to die in whatever corner she could find, like a sick and dying cat.
Now however, she was aching, she was sore, and her eye itched. How could something that wasn't there itch? But…
She wasn't feeling hopeless anymore. All Might had promised that he'd help her. It would take time, but she'd be whole again. Her future was still there and everything that had been done to her, the trigger withdrawal that left her head pounding, the gaping hole that used to be an eye, the terrible spray tan… it could all be put behind her for good.
She'd never understood why Koichi loved him so much until now. He really was more than just the giant man who punched all the problems away. There was something beyond that- like his mere presence was a promise that things would be all right.
Though... she still kind of thought the hoodie thing he had was kind of creepy. Not that she was to judge, she had an All Might hoodie too... but at least she had the excuse that hers had been given to her by a hero...
"Ohhh... are you thinking of a boy?" Midnight raised one perfect eyebrow in curiosity, "Because I know that look..."
"No!" Kazuho exclaimed as she frantically waved her hands as if to ward off evil spirits. She was not recalling that fateful day when Koichi had swooped in and saved her, sacrificing his own chance at being a hero to save her life! And she definitely wasn't thinking about how much she admired him! Or how he was a really great guy, despite being kind of a moron, and how she...
"You're blushing!" Nemuri tittered as she lifted her hands to her lips in teasing delight.
"I-I-I am not!" Kazuho screamed out, frantically stammering as she tried to come up with anything to explain it.
"Ah, young love," Midnight said with a long, overly dramatic sigh as she sat down, "If you want to think about your one true love, I can go," she said, "But if you'd like to talk, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"I-I'm fine, Midnight-san," Kazuho replied after a long moment, as she remembered the painful conversation she'd overheard between Makoto and Koichi. "I just..."
Midnight smiled and laid a soft hand on her shoulder. "Relax. Relax."
The bedridden girl took a moment to compose herself.
"Thank you, Midnight-san..."
"Nemuri," Midnight replied, "You can call me Nemuri if I can call you Kazuho."
Kazuho paused for a long moment and then nodded politely. "All right, Nemuri-san."
"Great, Kazuho-chan!" Nemuri said as a wide smile spread across her face, "Anyways, I don't want to get between you and your youthful fantasies..."
The sound that came from Kazuho's throat sounded somewhere between that of a frightened piglet and a drowning man. A fact which quite clearly gave Midnight no end of amusement as she giggled again, leaning back in her chair and watching Kazuho with a soft smile.
"What do you want then?" Kazuho asked the woman, scowling under her flushed cheeks. She was not up for this shit right now. Largely because normally she'd find an excuse to leap off, but she couldn't right now considering she was locked in a hospital room with an armed police guard at that.
They weren't treating her like a villain, but they were keeping her under protective custody. At least her parents got to come by- when they could- but the fact was she was still basically confined to a bed she didn't want to be in and about the limit to her personal freedom was the right to get up and go to the bathroom. And even that the nurses gave her the stink eye over.
No way in hell was she using a bedpan.
"So," Midnight asked her, "Before we go on, I need to ask... how serious are you about being a hero?"
Before, Kazuho would have said she wanted to be a performer first, and that being an Illegal hero was just a platform for her performances that had gained a life of its own. After all, her first experience with Koichi as a Vigilante had been her basically browbeating the then named 'Gentle-Man' into becoming her look out, but it had... evolved since then.
She closed her eye. And after her discussion with All Might, well, what she'd been doing... there was something about him that made her want to do more... be more. It made her feel like she'd been... selfish. But not in a 'shame on you' way. Like he'd just… helped her get a different perspective on it.
It was hard to explain.
"I'm not sure anymore," she admitted quietly.
"How so?" Nemuri asked as the tall, voluptuous woman learned in with a thoughtful smile. "Explain it to me..."
"I..." Kazuho closed her eye, "When I was little I wanted to be a hero. I also wanted to be an idol. I wasn't sure which, but eventually I decided on becoming a performer..."
"But now...?" Nemuri offered, guessing where she was going.
Kazuho sighed, letting her shoulders sink. "But now I'm not sure anymore. I love putting on shows. I love dancing and singing and making people smile."
Nemuri grinned. It was a knowing grin, not an accusatory one. "And I'm sure the attention has nothing to do with it, right?"
Kazuho sighed as her hands flattened out on the bedsheets. "No, that's… that's true. But... now..."
Almost felt like an admission of defeat. That yes, she really was just that selfish.
"Oh, don't be like that," Nemuri gently tisked, "There's no shame in liking attention. But let me guess; now that you've met All Might, you're wondering if maybe you can't be something more."
Kazuho went dead silent for a moment.
"He has a way about that," Nemuri added. "So you're confused now? Not sure if you still want to be an idol or if maybe you really do want to become a hero and help people?"
She nodded.
"Can I give you an idea then? Just to muse on, if you'd like."
Kazuho went silent for a moment then nodded.
"Okay..."
"Do both." Nemuri said it so casually it took Kazuho a moment to process.
She blinked. "Wait, what?"
She stretched out for a moment, reminding Kazuho of a cat, before resting her elbows on the railing of the hospital bed. "Let's not kid ourselves here, the hero industry is as much about putting on a performance as it is law enforcement," Nemuri explained, "You have to have a strong stage presence, Kazuho-chan, and to be a properly inspiring hero is just as important as a powerful Quirk. There's so much to be said about heroes who make people smile as those who punch out the bad guys. Sometimes that's really the only thing you can do to help someone. People who've just lost their homes, their property, even friends and loved ones... there isn't really much you can do for them except distract them from the pain, the fear, and the loss... at least for a little while."
Like what All Might had done for her. He'd given her hope.
"Not every hero is a combat hero. I'm a teacher at UA," she continued, "One of my colleagues is Lunch Rush. Have you heard of him?"
She shook her head. She wasn't much of a hero nerd.
"His Quirk allows him to cook massive amounts of good quality food extremely quickly. He's not a fighter. Now, don't get me wrong, the things he can do with a chef's knife or meat cleaver could turn your hair white, but his focus is making sure nobody goes hungry. A good meal and a warm belly can do wonders for people's mental state..." she poked her on the nose. "Just like a singing, dancing little ray of pep and good cheer."
"So you're saying I could be both an idol and a hero?"
"Of course, why not?" she asked, "An Idol Hero? The media would adore you, and you'd do great in disaster relief and hearts and minds operations."
"Hearts and minds?" she asked.
"Ah," Nemuri raised a hand, "Yeah, I can understand why you don't get that one. One of the tricks we do to keep crime down is when certain areas get too troublesome- You know, too much crime, too many villains, or the locals just start to lose faith in the system- some high visibility heroes are sent to make sure everyone knows that even if it's not easy, heroes are still here to help. That they haven't been abandoned," she paused, "Of course we also send in combat oriented heroes to help sort out of the riff-raff, but a girl like you would be priceless when we need visibility..."
Kazuho nodded. She was starting to understand what Midnight was getting at. She thought that she had potential to be a morale hero. That she'd be able to help people by keeping their spirits up during difficult times.
Slowly a smile came to her face. "I... I like the sound of that."
"Great," Nemuri jumped to her feet and clapped her hands. "Once you're cleared to be out and about, stop by my Hero office and we'll take care of the paperwork."
"Wait what?" Kazuho exclaimed in both shock and confusion, "The hell are you talking about...?"
Midnight grinned impishly as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking back on her way to the door. "Simple, you want to be a hero, yes?"
"I... I guess so?"
"Good, because you're one of my sidekicks now!"
Wait, what?
"Y-you can't just tell people they're your sidekick!" Kazuho exclaimed again, this time puffing up her cheeks with frustration and anger. The nerve of some people!
"Well, I just did." she winked.
That... that...
Kazuho growled in frustration.
"Rah! Fine! But I'm not stopping my performances and I better get paid!"
"I wouldn't dream of otherwise," Midnight winked, shooting her a playful smile. "By the way, the police want to talk to you..."
Kazuho growled in frustration and annoyance. Oh, great. Just wonderful. The Cops.
Here to help, days after the fact.
Right on time, guys, as per freaking usual.
"Whatever," she snorted, "Send them in."
Nemuri shot her a thumbs up as she left. "Stay safe, Kazuho-chan! Wouldn't want anything to happen to my new sidekick!"
Kazuho could only growl in impotent frustration as she left.
Crazy bitch, telling her that she was her sidekick without asking...
Tea.
Tea was a wonderful point of bonding, Danjuro mused. Even a modest cup served as a gateway to conversation. So many stories, so many ideas exchanged, so many delightful moments shared. A touch of class was all it took for any event to become memorable, and tea was a wonderful way to add just that little touch.
Any tea would do, but the better the tea, the better the conversation, or so he believed. Which of course was why he never went anywhere without a small emergency supply. A couple good quality bags kept in plastic and secured on his person in anticipation of hot water and opportunity.
This was one of those moments. He'd come to the hospital today to look in on young Miss Haneyama. It was then that he'd encountered the form of Haimawari Koichi the heroic but unfortunately named Crawler.
And as Miss Haneyama seemed to be indisposed, he decided that there was but one thing to be done...
Haimawari quietly sipped at his tea as the two of them sat across from one another, divided in space by a low, table that played host to a number of old magazines.
"This is very good tea," Haimawari stated, his tone of voice soft, as he sipped at his styrofoam cup of piping hot tea.
Very good. Hardly. It was bag tea- an acceptable tea, a sufficient tea, but bag tea, hardly the sort of thing one could call 'very good', especially when it was served in a styrofoam cup that disturbed the flavor and aroma.
Still, that the boy could identify the tea as being leagues superior to the drek most often shoveled in bags spoke well of him. Perhaps he should indulge the boy in a proper cup at some point in the future.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it," he said, "So, if I may be so bold as to ask, how did you meet Haneyama-san?"
The younger man smiled brightly, though maybe a bit shyly as he lowered his head. "I warned her that the police were coming when she was putting on one of her shows and she just kind of hooked me into being her protector..." he paused, "That's also about when I met my sensei..."
"Sensei?"
Haimawari nodded, "Yeah, his name was Knuckleduster. He was a tough old guy. Quirkless, but tough, and able to take down even the strongest villains. He taught me how to be a hero..."
A quirkless man taking on villains? Danjuro could only blink. That was an amazing thing! Such a person would have to have great skill and endless determination to even attempt such a thing, but to apparently be able to do so? "Outstanding!" he muttered, "Simply amazing."
The young man smiled, "Pop-chan, she did a lot of recon for us... she's very mobile."
He nodded. He could imagine such. Her mobility had been such that without Haimawari's help, she very well may have been able to escape him. After all, he did have a range on his ability to affect the atmosphere with his Quirk and if she'd been able to break line of sight he would have been unable to slow her.
It was amazing how skills that he'd once put to use escaping from pursuit could be so easily applied to the chase...
Haimawari smiled wistfully and looked at the door towards Pop Step's room. "If it wasn't for sensei, I wouldn't have been able to help her," he said as he smiled. It was a tired but wistful smile. This Kuckleduster had left quite the impact on the young man, "He gave me all the information we have on her."
Danjuro took a sip as he let the young man talk. "He sounds like quite the example to follow..."
"Not really," Haimawari replied, "He was a crazy violent old guy."
Danjuro blinked. "Okay then..."
"He even made me change my name," Haimawari added after a moment, his eyes leveling with Danjuro as a small reminiscent smile came to his face.
Changed his name? Danjuro wondered. "The Crawler" wasn't a very good name if you asked him, not that he'd ever be rude enough to say it. Insects crawled. It was a name that implied a figure who was creepy and underfoot. Heroes needed names that would uplift and encourage.
In retrospect maybe that was why he'd called himself Gentle Criminal. That little voice inside him that recognized he was making the wrong choice and called to his own spirit not to lose sight of who and what he was. Who he really wanted to be...
A Gentle Hero, who people could depend on.
"What was your original name?" he asked, "If I may be so bold?"
"Gentle-Man."
There was a long quiet pause as the two just looked at each other.
Gentle-Man.
The boy's chosen name as a hero had been Gentle-Man.
"That..." he said after a long moment, "Is a very strong name."
He found himself filled with respect for the younger man.
Gentle-man
If a name was a promise then they'd made the same one. In a way it marked them as kindred, at least in a spiritual sense. No wonder All Might had teamed them up. They'd synergized well, but he had no idea that it was to this extent...
Though at the same time, and he was ashamed to admit it, but he was almost relieved the young man abandoned it.
The brand confusion would have been quite bothersome.
"Sensei said Gentle-man wasn't a very good name," he paused, blushing very slightly, "He said that criminals wouldn't take it seriously."
Danjuro's small smile twisted into a frown.
Gentle? A name villains wouldn't take seriously?
Maybe he didn't like this sensei of his so much after all...
Kazuho was barely able to suppress the urge to groan as the police detective she was supposed to talk to walked through the door. He looked like a taller, older, rougher, and maler version of Makoto.
"Greetings, Haneyama-san, I'm Detective Tsukauchi..." he went silent for a moment, his brow furrowing with slight confusion at her reaction to him. "Is something the matter?"
This time she did groan. Tsukauchi. She'd heard Makoto's brother was a cop... great, just what she needed, to go over the worst moments of her life with Man-koto here. She bet he had a Quirk just like his sister too.
"You're not going to make me hold your hand, are you?" she grumbled.
"No," he replied with a smile. "While my sister's quirk is harder to trick than mine, unlike Makoto's Polygraph, my Quirk, 'Voice Stress' has the advantage of not needing physical contact. I just need to focus my attention on you."
Oh, goodie. So he'd creepily stare at her instead of just acting too friendly.
"You're actually quite fortunate you know," he said after a moment, "After all the damage that Queen Bee caused, under most circumstances you'd be placed in holding until we could completely sort things out..." he smiled, "But it seems that everyone is coming to your defense. All Might-san, Midnight-san, even Makoto-chan spoke well of you."
Kazuho blinked. "Wait, what? She did?"
"Oh yes," he replied, "She was quite insistent with me that something was wrong and that you shouldn't be treated as a villain. She never gave up on you. It speaks very highly of your character that you have so many friends willing to go the distance for you..."
Kazuho felt a knot form in her gut. She couldn't help but remember what passed for Makoto's love confession to Koichi. The one where she maturely aired her feelings, didn't pressure him, and outright told him to work out his feelings with her first before they could do anything. She'd hated her for it at the time, thinking she'd basically just swooped and left her with no other option. After all, how could a girl like her compare to Makoto. Smart, sexy, classy and successful Makoto... and her. With everything she had.
It was no contest. Even she wouldn't want her.
She closed her eyes. Makoto had done everything she could to help her, outright told Koichi to discuss their feelings for each other first before making any decisions when she could have just swooped in and snatched him away, and all for what? A girl who always treated her like a bitch?
"Alright," she said after a moment, as she bitterly tried to bury her feelings. "Ask your damned questions."
He nodded. "Alright, I'd like you to tell me everything you know about Number Six..."
She looked up bitterly at Man-koto. She knew that wasn't his name, but she couldn't help look at the guy and see his damned sister looking back. Only a lot less pretty and a lot more... man.
It wasn't hard to tell who'd gotten the best genes in that family.
"He called himself Nomura Rokuro. He was our manager," she replied after a moment.
"And how long was he your manager for?"
"About a year," she replied darkly as she thought back. A year. A year ago was when interest in Narufest started to wane... that fucking bastard.
"Did you just think about something?" he asked her.
She sighed and glared at the ceiling with her eye, wishing she could burn a hole in it like some laser eyed cyclops out of pure frustrated anger. "Yeah, now that I think about it, when he became our manager was when Narufest really started to go down hill in popularity..." she sighed. She was such a dumbass. "I thought it was because of Makoto leaving. That it fell apart because she was the one holding it all together, but now I can't help but wonder if he hadn't been sabotaging us this entire time."
"I see," the detective replied, "Narufest. The performance troop that my sister helped you put together."
She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, that's the one..."
"Could you give me the information for the other members of the troupe?"
Kazuho nodded. "Fine. I don't have my phone though, Bee bitch probably smashed it. I'll have to try and dig up everyone's contact info..."
"Actually, we were able to recover your phone from Queen Bee's apartment. She was keeping it in a faraday bag."
She closed her eye. Well, thank the gods for petty favors, eh?
"I'll unlock it and tell you which numbers to call later..."
He nodded. "I'll have it taken out of evidence and brought here."
Good. Maybe they'd even let her keep it when they were done.
"So, how did the suspect act when he was around you?"
"He acted like an insecure dweeb most of the times," she grumbled, "Complete simp..."
She grit her teeth. "But he was nice. He acted like a decent guy, he even said he was a hero and got rid of some thugs who were giving me trouble when I tried to sing on the street out of costume."
The detective went silent for a moment, "Haneyama, would you be so kind as to describe these thugs?"
She blinked. "What does that matter?"
He went silent for a moment, "Please, humor me."
Kazuho grunted and fell back into her pillow. "Fine... one of them had spikey blonde hair and a stupid sword medallion. Another had bangs that covered his face and wore this dumb thing with a neck bow, not a bowtie but like an actual girly bow. The final one had bangs that covered one of his eyes and this jacket with a furry collar. Why?"
"Where did you last see them?" he asked.
"In some izakaya(*)," she replied, "I went there with him and he got really plastered drunk. They were congratulating me before I left. Apparently he made nice with them or something."
The detective went silent for a moment, "Three young men matching those descriptions were found dead in the alleyway behind the Mizunomi Bar the day of your disappearance..."
She took a long deep, fitful gasp. He killed them.
She grimaced and looked away.
Oh god, he killed them.
"It looks like he's responsible for three more deaths."
She looked up to him. "He was nice to me and pretended he liked me, all until he led me into an abandoned building and tossed me into a room full of corpses. I couldn't see much because my glasses had been knocked off, but I heard buzzing and then pain. And then I..." Her eye squeezed shut. She took a deep breath, "Fragments. Memories. They're not clear, but I was angry and depressed. I don't..."
"And your criminal actions?" he asked, "The villain was able to act very much like you."
"The bee had all my memories!" she cried out, sitting up and looking at him with one furious pink eye. "She had everything I was, but it was like someone else was in the driver's seat. I was half-aware but I wasn't in control! You know, like some... disgusting bug monster bored into my eye and took over my body!"
"Is there anything you remember from that time?"
"No," she snapped, "Just she was angry and bitter and... she resented everything..."
It was like her own feelings twisted and magnified and perverted by a monster.
"Do you remember the location of the building?"
She shook her head. "Not off the top of my head. It was just a creepy grey apartment tower."
"Thank you," he replied, "I'll leave you alone for now. If you remember anything else, please, let me know..."
"Sure," she grumbled. "I'll do that."
Fucking Man-koto
* Izakaya, Lit: stay-drink-place. Highly informal Japanese pub for after work snacks and drinking.